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GOVERNOR   WILLIAM    HODGES    MANN 

OF  VIRGINIA.    PRESIDENT 


^BATTLING   FOR 
SOCIAL   BETTERMENT 


SOUTHERN  SOCIOLOGICAL  CONGRESS 
^  MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE 

MAY  6-10,  1914 


EDITED  BY 

JAMES  E.  Mcculloch 

NASHVILLE,  TENN. 


SOUTHERN  SOCIOLOGICAL  CONGRESS 
1914 


^\ 


Copyright,  1914,  by 
SOUTHERN  SOCIOLOGICAL  CONGRESS 


Pbess  of 

Bbnson  Printing  Company 

Nashville,  Tenn. 


MRS.  ANNA    RUSSELL  COLE 

OF   NASHVILLE,   FOUNDER 


INTRODUCTION 


The  civilization  of  the  Old  South,  in  spite  of  the  severe 
handicap  of  slavery,  had  features  of  incomparable  beauty 
and  nobility.  In  the  greater  freedom  of  the  New  South, 
there  is  the  same  chivalrous  spirit  at  work  that  produced 
the  finest  things  of  the  old  civilization.  The  history  of 
reconstruction  is  the  epic  story  of  this  dauntless  life  emerg- 
ing from  the  desolations  of  war  to  aspire  for  a  still  finer 
and  nobler  civilization  in  the  future.  Readjustment  has 
been  so  rapid  that  the  march  of  progress  is  irregular. 
The  new  civilization  is  lacking  in  symmetry.  Many  zones 
of  danger  and  infection  exist.  False  prophets  have  ap- 
peared. The  world  outside  has  disturbed  the  South  by  talk- 
ing overmuch  about  its  danger  zones  and  false  prophets. 

Consequently,  a  conviction  grew  that  the  best  intelli- 
gence and  leadership  of  the  South  should  study  and  improve 
and  interpret  its  social  and  civic  life.  Out  of  this  convic- 
tion the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  was  born.  Imme- 
diately it  drew  the  best  minds  of  the  South  together.  On 
its  absolutely  free  platform  the  new  social  consciousness 
has  found  expression.  Leaders  of  State  and  Church  have 
got  their  sense  of  direction.  Comrades  in  the  common  war- 
fare against  social  and  economic  evils  have  become  ac- 
quainted. Fires  of  enthusiasm  have  been  kindled  in  many 
hearts.  The  Churches  and  other  forces  have  been  enlisted 
for  social  welfare.  The  New  South  has  heard  the  call  of 
duty  to  relieve  social  distress.  Southern  patriots  are  mob- 
ilizing in  a  large  way  for  a  crusade  of  national  health  and 
righteousness,  and  already  they  are  battling  all  along  the 
line  for  social  betterment. 

The  Congress  met  in  Memphis  this  year  in  joint  session 
with  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction. 
By  special  agreement,  the  National  Conference  had  charge 
of  the  departments  of  the  program  on  Public  Health,  Child 
Welfare,  Courts  and  Prisons,  and  Associated  Charities, 
while  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  confined  its  part 


4  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

of  the  program  to  Race  Relations  and  the  Church  and  Social 
Service. 

The  volume  of  Proceedings  this  year  is  therefore  smaller 
than  usual  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Congress  program 
was  confined  to  two  departments.  This  arrangement,  how- 
ever, applies  only  to  the  Memphis  convention ;  for  the  Con- 
gress will  continue  to  work  this  year  as  usual  through  the 
following  six  departments:  Public  Health,  Courts  and 
Prisons,  Child  Welfare,  Associated  Charities,  Race  Rela- 
tions, and  the  Church  and  Social  Service. 

The  Editor  is  indebted  to  the  speakers  for  their  careful 
preparation  of  manuscript  and  to  Mr.  Curtis  B.  Haley  for 
his  assistance  in  reading  the  proof.  The  Editor. 

Nashville,  July  16,  1914. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Portrait  of  Gov.  William  H.  Mann,  President  of  the  Congress. 
Portrait  of  Mrs.  Anna  Russell  Cole,  Founder  of  the  Congress. 
Introductory    Note 3 

I.    Preliminary    7-21 

The  Social  Program 9 

The  Challenge  of  the  Congress 10 

The  President's  Message 11 

II.    The  Church  and  Social  Service 23-108 

Report   of  the    Committee   on   the   Church    and    Social 

Service    25 

John  A.  Rice,  D.D.,  Chairman. 

The  Present  Social  Order  in  Conflict  with  the  Ideals  of 

the  Church 29 

James  R.  Howerton,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

The  Social  Message  of  the  Church  to  Modern  Industry. .      44 
Rev.  C.  A.  Waterfield. 

The  Social  Mission  of  the  Church  to  City  Life B5 

Rabbi  Emanuel  Sternheim. 

The  Workingman  and  the  Church 61 

A.  M.  Bruner. 

The  Sunday  School  as  an  Agency  for  Social  Service 64 

Andrew  J.  Bethea. 

The  Religious  Basis  of  Social  Service 69 

Father  Peter  A.  Crumbly. 

The  Coordination  of  Social  and  Religious  Forces 73 

W.  H.  Slingerland,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

The  New  Profession  of  Social  Service 82 

George  B.  Mangold,  Ph.D. 
The  Preparation  of  Ministers  for  Social  Service 91 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Gardner,  D.D. 

The  Preparation  of  the  Church  for  Social  Service 98 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Macfarland,  D.D. 

III.    Race  Relations 109-188 

Lack  of  Proper  Home  Life  among  Negroes Ill 

Rev.  A.  M.  Trawick,  B.D. 

Some  Conditions  among  Negroes  in  Cities 120 

Prof.  George  E.  Haynes,  Ph.D. 

The  Negro  Children  as  Future  Workers 132 

Mrs.  Florence  Kelley. 

Religious  Conditions  Which  Hinder  Negro  Progress....    138 
President  John  D.  Hammond,  D.D. 


6  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

PAGE 

Race  Cooperation  in  Church  Work 145 

Bishop  Theodore  D.  Bratton,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

The   Southern   Sociological   Congress   as  a   Factor   for 

Social    Welfare 154 

Booker  T.  Washington,  LL.D. 

Inter-Racial  Interests  in  Industry 159 

Major  Robert  R.  Moton. 

Inter-Racial  Interest  of  Health 169 

C.  V.  Roman,  M.A.,  M.D. 

Religion  the  Common  Basis  of  Cooperation 178 

W.  D.  Weatherford,  Ph.D. 

IV.    Organization  189-227 

Constitution  and  By-Laws 191 

Officers  and   Committees 195 

Report  of  Committee  on  Social  Program 204 

Resolutions  Adopted  by  the  Congress 205 

Membership   206 

Index  to  Speakers,  Writers,  and  Officers 223 

Index  to  Subjects 226 


I.    PRELIMINARY 


Tlie  Social  Program 

The  Challenge  of  the  Congress 

The  President's  Address 


THE  SOCIAL  PROGRAM  OF  THE  CONGRESS 


The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  stands: 

For  the  abolition  of  convict  lease  and  contract 
systems,  and  for  the  adoption  of  modern  principles 
of  prison  reform. 

For  the  extension  and  improvement  of  juvenile 
courts  and  juvenile  reformatories. 

For  the  proper  care  and  treatment  of  defectives, 
the  blind,  the  deaf,  the  insane,  the  epileptic,  and  the 
feeble-minded. 

For  the  recognition  of  the  relation  of  alcoholism 
to  disease,  to  crime,  to  pauperism,  and  to  vice,  and 
for  the  adoption  of  appropriate  preventive  measures. 

For  the  adoption  of  uniform  laws  of  the  highest 
standards  concerning  marriage  and  divorce. 

For  the  adoption  of  the  imiform  law  on  vital 
statistics. 

For  the  abolition  of  child  labor  by  the  enact- 
ment of  the  uniform  child  labor  law. 

For  the  enactment  of  school  attendance  laws,  that 
the  reproach  of  the  greatest  degree  of  illiteracy  may 
be  removed  from  our  section. 

For  the  suppression  of  prostitution. 

For  the  solving  of  the  race  question  in  a  spirit  of 
helpfulness  to  the  negro  and  of  equal  justice  to  both 
races. 

For  the  closest  co-operation  between  the  Church 
and  all  social  agencies  for  the  securing  of  these  re- 
sults. 


THE  CHALLENGE  OF  THE  CONGRESS 


The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  is  a  chal- 
lenge to  the  men  and  women  of  the  whole  South : 

1.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  Southern  fathers  and 
mothers  and  all  social  workers  to  lift  the  burdens 
of  labor  from  childhood  and  to  make  education  uni- 
versal. 

2.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  men  who  make  and 
administer  laws  to  organize  society  as  a  school  for 
the  development  of  all  her  citizens  rather  than  sim- 
ply to  be  a  master  to  dispose  of  the  dependent,  de- 
fective, and  delinquent  population  with  the  least  ex- 
pense to  the  State. 

3.  It  is  a  challenge  to  all  citizens  to  rally  to  the 
leaders  of  all  social  reforms,  so  as  to  secure  for  the 
South  civic  righteousness,  temperance,  and  health. 

4.  It  is  a  challenge  to  Southern  chivalry  to  see 
that  justice  is  guaranteed  to  all  citizens  regardless 
of  race,  color,  or  religion,  and  especially  to  befriend 
and  defend  the  friendless  and  helpless. 

5.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  Church  to  prove  her 
right  to  social  mastery  by  a  universal  and  unselfish 
social  ministry. 

6.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  present  generation  to 
show  its  gratitude  for  the  heritage  bequeathed  to  it 
through  the  toil  and  blood  of  centuries  by  devoting 
itself  more  earnestly  to  the  task  of  making  the  nation 
a  universal  brotherhood. 

7.  It  is  a  challenge  to  strong  young  men  and 
women  to  volunteer  for  a  crusade  of  social  service, 
and  to  be  enlisted  for  heroic  warfare  against  all  de- 
stroyers of  public  health  and  purity,  and  to  champion 
all  that  makes  for  an  ideal  national  life. 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE 

GOV.  WILLIAM  HODGES  MANN,  OF  VIRGINIA 

Coming  from  the  capital  of  the  Old  Dominion  and  from 
the  city  which  for  four  years  was  the  capital  of  the  Confed- 
erate States,  so  largely  represented  in  this  assembly,  I 
would,  if  I  could,  bring  to  this  splendid  audience  the  inspi- 
ration of  history — the  history  of  my  State  and  its  capital 
city,  in  which  every  American  has  an  interest  because  it 
is  his  history  as  well  as  ours — a  history  which  deals  alike 
with  war  and  peace,  with  splendid  achievements  of  construc- 
tive government,  with  the  field,  the  forum,  and  progres- 
sive advancement  of  manufacturing  and  industrial  develop- 
ment, and,  best  of  all,  a  history  which  even  in  this  day  and 
generation  records  the  best  development  of  representative 
government  and  shows  upon  its  pages  no  taint  or  stain  of 
graft. 

In  making  these  utterances  there  is  no  disposition  to 
boast,  but  rather  to  take  counsel  that  together,  as  one  man, 
we  may  lay  hold  of  the  gathered  force  which  has  been 
accumulating  for  more  than  three  centuries  in  Virginia,  and 
which  for  shorter  periods  has  been  gathering  in  the  other 
commonwealths  of  our  beloved  country,  and  to-night  dedi- 
cate them,  as  never  before,  to  the  service  of  God  and  human- 
ity ;  that  we  may  bring  together  the  mind  and  heart  of  this 
splendid  Congress,  consecrated  to  plans  which  will  best 
strengthen  and  increase  our  own  love,  and,  when  our  hearts 
are  full,  spread  it  abroad  like  water  in  a  dry  and  thirsty 
land,  vivifying,  purifying,  and  making  glad  every  human 
heart  it  touches,  and  bringing  upon  ourselves  the  smile  of 
an  approving  God. 

It  is  not  often  in  this  striving,  progressive  country, 
advancing  along  every  line  of  thought  and  action,  and  con- 
tinuously converting  possibilities  into  realities,  that  we  are 
permitted  to  come  to  a  conference  like  this,  each  with  the 
love  of  God  in  his  heart,  bound  by  no  denominational  lines, 
caring  nothing  for  minor  differences,  regardless  of  wealth 
except  as  a  means  to  an  end,  trampling  under  foot  all 


12  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

thoughts  of  personal  gain  or  advancement,  but  in  honor 
preferring  one  another  and  taking  counsel  together  how  we 
may  best  strengthen  the  weak,  uplift  the  fallen,  work  for 
the  suffering  and  needy,  consecrate  all  of  our  capacities, 
and  direct  in  proper  channels  all  the  forces  of  nature,  of 
society,  and  of  government,  that  through  these  agencies  all 
people  may  get  the  most  good  and  do  the  most  good.  Surely 
it  is  an  honor  of  which  any  man  might  be  proud  to  address 
such  an  audience,  to  feel  his  heart  beat  and  his  brain  throb 
in  unison  with  good  men  and  good  women  in  service.  Thank 
God  for  the  honor  and  the  happiness  of  a  service  which 
brings  its  own  reward! 

"The  joys  we  give  to  others  rest 
In  blessings  on  our  lives  again, 
The  dewdrops  gathered  from  earth's  breast 
Return  to  her  in  rain." 

But  if,  as  I  have  stated,  it  is  an  honor  to  address  such 
an  audience,  it  is  a  still  greater  honor  to  have  been  elected 
President  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  and  I  take 
this  opportunity  to  express  my  sincere  appreciation. 

It  is  easy  on  occasions  like  this,  with  heart  and  brain 
aflame,  to  indulge  in  sentiment  and  rhetoric  and  to  give 
vent  to  our  opinions  and  energies  in  those  generalities 
which  are  pleasing  to  the  ear,  touch  a  responsive  chord  in 
the  heart,  but  do  not  advance  the  purpose  which  has  brought 
us  together.  Indeed,  if  we  confine  ourselves  to  generalities, 
there  will  be  little,  if  any,  difference  of  opinion  and  we  will 
lack  in  our  meeting  the  pleasure,  and  go  away  without  the 
profit,  which  comes  from  the  energizing  sparks  of  clashing 
minds,  all  seeking  the  truth,  but  viewing  it  from  different 
standpoints  and  looking  for  it  in  different  ways. 

Holding  this  view,  and  with  the  sincere  desire  of  seeing 
things  done  and  good  accomplished,  it  may  not  be  unwise  to 
direct  your  attention  to  certain  definite  reforms,  and  if  the 
Congress  will  grant  indulgence  I  would  like  to  bring  up  for 
your  consideration  certain  recommendations  made  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  Virginia  at  its  1914  session,  and  repeat 
the  messages  which  went  from  head  and  heart  to  that  body. 
Of  course,  you  will  understand  that  difference  in  conditions 


THE  PRESroENT'S  MESSAGE  13 

and  environments  may  make  changes  and  modifications  of 
these  recommendations  necessary,  but  the  principles  in- 
volved and  the  ends  sought  to  be  accomplished  will  be  for 
good  everywhere;  and  although  all  of  these  recommenda- 
tions may  not  meet  with  the  approval  of  this  Congress,  they 
will  at  least  serve  to  show  the  trend  of  modern  official  life, 
and  their  failure  of  enactment  will  emphasize  the  recognized 
truth  that  time  and  education  are  necessary  for  the  gather- 
ing of  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  reforms  into  such 
volume  and  strength  as  to  compel  their  enactment  into  laws. 
The  first  subject  considered,  you  will  observe,  touches 
every  State  and  almost  every  community  and  is  one  of  inter- 
est everywhere:  People  who,  on  account  of  age,  infirmity, 
or  poverty,  have  to  be  supported  by  their  more  fortunate 
fellows  ought  not  to  be  sent  to  "poor  houses,"  but  should 
be  comforted  with  the  thought  that  their  neighbors  and 
friends  have  provided  "homes"  for  them.  Without  further 
remarks,  I  submit  the  recommendations. 

DISTRICT  HOMES 

At  the  last  session  of  the  General  Assembly  I  recom- 
mended the  establishment  of  a  home  in  every  Congressional 
District  to  take  the  place  of  the  present  county  and  city 
almshouses  and  to  be  supported  by  each  county  and  city  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  inmates  furnished  by  each.  In 
the  light  of  the  figures  which  have  been  furnished  by  the 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  I  earnestly  renew 
my  recommendation. 

Number  of  persons  supported  in  almshouses 

during  1913 4,514 

Value  of  real  estate $1,061,485.00 

Cost   of   maintenance 214,771,03 

Superintendents'    salaries 26,617.00 

Value  of  crops  made  and  consumed 83,624.03 

Total  cost,  not  including  interest  on  real 

estate    $  275,012.06 

Persons  aided  in  their  homes  by  overseers  of 

poor  6,033 

Cost    $  90,590.00 

Salaries  of  overseers 11,692.05 

Total   cost $102,282.05 


14  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

These  figures  show  that  10,547  poor  people  were  sup- 
ported or  aided  last  year  by  the  cities  and  counties  of  the 
State  at  an  expense  of  $377,294.11. 

The  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  real  estate  belonging  to 
the  almshouses  would  be  sufficient  to  purchase  ten  good 
farms  centrally  located  or,  where  there  is  a  city,  in  the 
district  as  near  to  it  as  reasonably  possible,  and  for  the 
erection  of  suitable  buildings  in  which  the  poor  of  our 
State  could  be  comfortably  housed  and  properly  looked  after. 
These  homes  would  be  a  decided  contrast  with  the  present 
almshouses,  some  of  which,  to  express  it  mildly,  do  not 
reflect  credit  on  the  State. 

These  homes  would  be  used  as  nuclei  for  the  segre- 
gation and  care  of  the  6,000  feeble-minded  in  the  State, 
which  includes  at  least  2,000  high-grade  imbeciles  or  morons 
who  would  not  be  classed  as  feeble-minded  except  by  experts, 
1,525  classed  as  idiots,  and  2,832  imbeciles,  but  with  mind 
enough  to  work.  Of  these  feeble-minded  people,  only  225 
have  adequate  custodial  care.  It  is  believed  that  with  care- 
fully selected  and  cultivated  farms  these  people  could  cer- 
tainly be  segregated  and  probably  could  be  made  self-sup- 
porting. Certainly,  the  time  has  come  when  the  State  ought 
to  take  some  action. 

Mental  defectives  multiply  twice  as  rapidly  as  normal 
people,  and  from  feeble-mindedness  springs,  by  inheritance, 
insanity,  epilepsy,  crime,  pauperism,  and  all  forms  of  men- 
tal degeneracy.  The  prevention  of  the  reproduction  of  this 
class  is,  therefore,  a  social  and  economic  necessity. 

STATE  BOARD  OF  CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTIONS 

This  board  has  done  good  work  since  its  organization, 
and  has  been  exceedingly  helpful  in  making  investigations 
and  ascertaining  real  conditions  when  it  was  necessary 
for  the  Governor  to  have  information.  The  board  reports 
that  there  is  a  daily  population  of  sixteen  hundred  misde- 
meanants living  in  our  jails  in  idleness  and  evil  companion- 
ship at  a  cost  to  the  State  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year.  The  very  best  remedy  for  this  con- 
dition is  to  put  these  people  to  work  either  on  the  roads 


THE  president's  MESSAGE  15 

or  on  farms  provided  for  the  purpose.  Lynchburg:  has  al- 
ready purchased  a  farm  on  which  it  proposes  to  put  its  crim- 
inal class,  and  I  hope  that  other  cities  will  follow  its  ex- 
ample and  that  authority  be  given  for  the  prisoners  con- 
fined for  violation  of  State  laws  to  be  worked  on  the  farms 
when  for  any  cause  they  cannot  be  worked  on  the  roads. 
This  plan  is  now  being  carried  out  by  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, which  has  in  Fairfax  County  a  farm  of  about  eleven 
hundred  acres,  and  upon  which  an  average  of  seven  hundred 
prisoners  from  the  Washington  jail  make  net,  after  paying 
expenses,  about  ten  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 

HOMES  FOR  POOR  CHILDREN 

During  the  last  eighteen  months  the  Board  of  Charities 
and  Corrections  has  placed  in  family  homes  one  hundred 
and  fifty  delinquent  colored  children,  a  majority  of  whom 
were  taken  from  jails,  and  all  except  eight  are  doing  well. 
This  work  should  be  continued,  and  it  would  be  well  to  so 
amend  the  law  that  white  and  colored  children  committed 
to  the  reformatories  should  first  go  to  the  Board  of  Charities 
and  Corrections  and  homes  secured  for  such  of  them  as  in 
the  opinion  of  the  board  could  be  trusted,  with  power  to 
send  such  as  proved  unmanageable  to  the  reformatories,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  board. 

PROBATION  LAW 

By  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  approved 
March  12,  1912,  any  court  or  justice  in  cities  of  over  40,000 
population  was  authorized  and  empowered  to  continue  the 
case  and  admit  to  bail  any  one  charged  with  being  a  habitual 
drunkard,  with  failing  to  support  his  wife  and  children, 
with  being  a  vagrant  or  idler  able  to  work,  and  who  is 
likely  to  become  a  charge  on  the  corporation,  and  to  commit 
such  person  to  the  supervision  of  a  probation  officer.  The 
probation  officer  sees  that  the  man  so  committed  works, 
and  that  his  family  gets  the  benefit;  and  if  he  fails  to  obey 
directions  or  violates  the  rules,  he  is  arrested  without  war- 
rant and  carried  before  the  judge  or  justice  and  put  to 
work  on  the  roads — in  short,  he  must  either  work  for  him- 


16  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

self  and  family  or  for  the  State  on  the  convict  road  force, 
or  he  may  be  committed  to  workhouses  or  city  farms. 

In  the  city  of  Richmond,  where  the  probation  law  en- 
acted by  the  last  General  Assembly,  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  is  being  tested, 
one  hundred  men  paid  last  year  to  the  probation  officer  for 
the  support  of  their  families  $6,558.  The  board  recom- 
mends that  probation  officers  should  be  appointed  and  non- 
support  cases  placed  under  them  in  every  city  in  the  State. 
This  recommendation  meets  with  my  approval. 

PROTECTION  OF  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN 

The  Department  of  Labor  and  Statistics,  by  its  careful 
system  of  inspections  and  its  determination  to  have  executed 
the  laws  for  the  protection  of  women  and  children,  has 
obtained  fourteen  hundred  convictions  in  two  years.  Great 
good  has  been  accomplished  and  the  law  is  being  obeyed. 

The  statute  under  which  the  department  is  acting  does 
not  give  protection  in  some  very  important  particulars,  and 
should  be  so  amended  as  to  prohibit  the  employment  of 
women  and  children  in  liquor,  beer,  and  cider  bottling  es- 
tablishments, mail  order  liquor  houses,  and  breweries. 

I  recommend  that  whenever  any  person,  firm,  or  cor- 
poration shall  employ  a  child  under  the  legal  age,  and  the 
age  of  the  child  is  clearly  proved,  the  employer  shall  not 
be  permitted  in  any  prosecution  against  him  to  escape  con- 
viction by  showing  or  attempting  to  show  that  he  used 
diligence  to  ascertain  the  age  of  the  child  employed.  But 
this  effort  on  his  part  should  be  allowed  to  be  proved  in 
mitigation.  Our  children  are  our  best  assets,  and  whoever 
deals  with  them  must  keep  the  law. 

FEDERATION  OF  WOMEN'S  CLUBS 

The  Federation  of  Colored  Women's  Clubs  of  Virginia 
has  purchased  a  farm,  upon  which  will  be  established  an 
industrial  school  for  delinquent  colored  girls.  This  enter- 
prise has  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections, and  I  heartily  recommend  it  to  the  favor  of  the 
General  Assembly. 


THE  PRESroENT'S  MESSAGE  17 

INEBRIETY 

Inebriety  is  now  a  disease  and  must  be  so  treated,  if  the 
reclamation  of  our  unfortunate  fellow-citizens  is  desired. 
They  should  not  be  sent  to  jail,  but  should  be  kept  from  all 
intoxicating  liquor  until  it  has  been  thoroughly  eliminated 
from  the  system ;  should  have  plenty  of  sunshine,  fresh  air, 
and  wholesome  food,  and  made  to  work.  A  colony  should 
be  established  where  inebriates  and  drug  habitu(^s  should, 
under  proper  rules  and  regulations,  be  required  to  earn 
their  living,  and  influences  should  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
these  unfortunate  people  tending  to  restore  their  self-re- 
spect and  manhood. 

GIRLS'  CANNING  AND  POULTRY  CLUBS 

In  addition  to  the  demonstration  work  described  above, 
there  has  been  conducted  under  the  control  of  the  United 
Agricultural  Board  the  girls'  canning  and  poultry  clubs. 
These  clubs  are  operating  in  twelve  counties  under  the  gen- 
eral supervision  of  Miss  Agnew  and  are  doing  fine  work. 
The  girls  are  taught  how  to  work  a  garden  in  the  most 
advantageous  way,  how  to  preserve  and  can  the  products 
of  the  garden  and  orchard,  to  sew,  clean  up,  cook,  and  to 
do  anything  necessary  to  make  a  home  comfortable  and 
happy,  while  with  every  phase  of  the  work  there  is  a  moral 
uplift  which  strengthens  the  characters  of  the  girls  and 
helps  to  fit  them  for  the  responsible  position  of  home 
makers.  The  meetings  of  these  clubs  are  held  in  the  homes 
of  the  girls  and  their  influence  upon  these  homes  is  educa- 
tional and  far-reaching.  This  work  is  largely  supported  by 
funds  through  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, and  should  be  favored  by  the  General  Assembly  and 
the  United  Agricultural  Board. 

NEGRO  GIRLS'  GARDEN  AND  CANNING  CLUBS 

In  fourteen  counties  of  the  State,  under  the  supervision 
and  direction  of  Mr.  Jackson  Davis,  the  work  by  the  negro 
girls'  garden  and  canning  clubs  is  carried  on  upon  substan- 
tially the  same  line,  and  the  same  things  are  taught  as  to 

2 


18  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

the  white  girls'  canning  and  poultry  clubs.  The  clubs  are 
held  in  the  homes  of  the  colored  girls,  and  the  mothers 
soon  become  as  much  interested  as  the  girls  and  interest 
and  enthusiasm  are  aroused  which  produce  good  results. 
During  last  year  10,504  jars  of  fruit  and  vegetables  were 
put  up  by  girls  and  12,269  put  up  by  mothers.  Before  these 
clubs  were  started  the  fruits  and  vegetables  now  canned 
and  used  were  thrown  away  or  permitted  to  decay.  It  is 
said  that  these  negro  girls'  garden  clubs  can  be  traced  by 
improved  fences,  whitewashed  houses,  and  other  evidences 
of  thrift  and  industry.  The  United  Agricultural  Board  was 
able  to  render  a  little  assistance  to  these  clubs  and  is  more 
than  satisfied  with  the  results.  These  clubs  are  almost  en- 
tirely supported  by  contributions  from  the  people  of  the 
State  and  by  help  from  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural 
Institute  and  from  the  Jeanes  Fund. 

NEGRO  EXPOSITION  AT  RICHMOND 

About  the  first  of  December  last  I  had  presented  to  me 
by  four  prominent  colored  citizens  of  Richmond  a  report 
of  three  expositions  held  by  colored  people  and  at  which 
they  made  a  great  showing.  One  of  these  expositions  was 
held  in  New  York,  to  which  the  State  contributed  $25,000 ; 
one  was  held  at  Atlantic  City,  to  which  New  Jersey  con- 
tributed $25,000;  and  one  at  Philadelphia,  to  which  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania  contributed  $95,000.  The  report  goes 
on  to  say: 

"After  consultation  among  ourselves,  we  feel  that  this 
is  an  opportune  time  for  the  negroes  of  Virginia  to  hold  an 
industrial  exposition  and  place  upon  exhibit  the  agricul- 
tural, mechanical,  and  educational  products  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  race  within  the  last  fifty  years.  Such  an  ex- 
hibit, in  our  opinion,  would  be  invaluable  to  our  race  and 
would  be  an  opportunity  for  the  white  people  of  Virginia, 
who  have  aided  us  in  every  worthy  undertaking,  to  see 
what  we  have  done  and  are  doing  in  the  solution  of  the 
BO-called  'problem.'  It  would  attract  thousands  of  white 
people  from  the  North  and  West,  who  have  never  known 
the  peculiar  and  satisfactory  relations  that  exist  between 


THE  president's  MESSAGE  19 

the  white  and  colored  race  in  Virginia.  It  would  show  to 
the  world  how  the  negroes  have  prospered  under  our  in- 
stitutions. 

"We  therefore  most  respectfully  petition  your  Excellen- 
cy, and  through  you  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  at  its  next 
session,  for  an  appropriation  of  $25,000  to  aid  the  negroes 
of  Virginia  in  holding  an  exposition  at  Richmond  in  com- 
memoration of  their  achievements  within  the  last  fifty 
years." 

I  think  the  purpose  manifested  in  the  papers  submitted 
and  the  ambition  on  the  part  of  the  colored  people  of  Vir- 
ginia to  equal,  if  not  surpass,  the  achievements  of  their 
race  in  the  States  named  should,  and  I  trust  will,  incline 
the  General  Assembly  to  consider  favorably  their  request 
for  an  appropriation  to  aid  them  in  holding  an  exposition 
at  Richmond  in  the  near  future. 

TREATMENT  OF  CONVICTS  IN  THE  PENITENTIARY 

The  convicts  in  our  penitentiary  are  well  and  kindly 
treated.  The  discipline  is  maintained  with  as  little  punish- 
ment as  possible,  and  the  board  and  officers  of  the  institu- 
tion are  to  be  commended. 

It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  the  time  has  come  when  a 
distinct  forward  movement  in  the  interest  of  reformation 
should  be  made  in  addition  to  the  agencies  now  employed 
for  that  purpose,  and  I  recommend  the  establishment  of 
an  evening  or  night  school,  in  which  shall  be  taught  the 
Bible  and  such  elementary  branches  and  other  studies  as 
will  promote  mental  training  and  produce  that  pride  and 
self-respect  which  are  necessary  elements  of  character,  and 
thus  fit  these  people,  who  have  broken  the  law  but  are  still 
in  reach  of  good  influences,  for  useful  participation  in  actual 
life. 

If  the  experiment  succeeds,  vocational  training  should 
and  doubtless  will  be  added.  If  a  small  deduction,  in  addi- 
tion to  that  now  allowed,  is  made  from  the  convict's  time 
of  imprisonment  for  good  behavior,  and  a  library  of  good 
books  and  magazines  shall  be  furnished  for  the  use  of  the 
prisoners  after  their  tasks  are  completed,  and  they  are 


20  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

made  to  feel  that  the  State  cares  for  them  and  their  wel- 
fare, I  believe  great  good  will  be  accomplished.  There  is 
sufficient  room  in  the  penitentiary  building  for  the  school, 
and  an  appropriation  of  five  thousand  dollars  per  annum 
for  the  next  two  years  out  of  general  funds,  to  be  repaid 
from  the  penitentiary  surplus,  will  be  sufficient  to  put  this 
recommendation  into  effect  and  demonstrate  its  value. 

Looking  to  the  future,  conditions  all  point  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  penitentiary,  sooner  or  later,  to  some  suitably 
located  farm  in  the  country,  where  such  work  can  be  given 
the  convicts  in  sunshine  and  pure  air  as  will  break  up  the 
habits  of  dissipation  which  bring  at  least  seventy-five  per 
cent  to  the  penitentiary,  and  promote  vigorous  health  and 
a  return  to  real  manhood.  With  this  fact  before  us,  we 
should  purchase  sufficient  land  in  some  desirable  locality 
and  with  ample  transportation  facilities  while  it  can  be  se- 
cured at  a  reasonable  price. 

It  is  not  contended  that  morality  and  righteousness  can 
be  forced  into  the  human  mind  and  heart  by  legislation ;  but 
on  the  other  hand  it  is  believed  that  by  removing  temptation 
from  the  paths  of  the  weak,  by  giving  them  good  food,  com- 
fortable quarters,  plenty  of  air  and  sunshine,  reasonable 
but  not  too  hard  labor,  and  above  all  by  giving  to  these 
unfortunates  that  consideration  and  attention  which  will 
awaken  a  long  slumbering  but  not  dead  self-respect,  the 
spirit  of  manhood  may  be  kindled  into  a  flame  which  will 
remove  the  dross  of  their  natures  and  permit  them  to  stand 
clear-eyed  and  unashamed  in  the  presence  of  their  fellow 
men. 

THE  HOME 

In  conclusion,  as  the  home  is  the  fountain  of  civic  life 
and  civic  righteousness,  the  opinion  is  ventured  that  upon 
the  home,  as  most  important  of  all,  the  efforts  of  those  who 
seek  to  benefit  and  elevate  their  fellow  men  should  be 
turned,  that  to  obtain  entry  into  the  homes  of  our  people, 
and  so  act  as  to  secure  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the 
mothers  and  fathers  and  so  be  able  to  influence  them  in 
the  right  direction,  is  a  work  of  intelligence,  tact,  self- 
denial,  and  almost  infinite  love;  but  once  there  we  have 


THE  PRESroENT'S  MESSAGE  21 

open  to  us  and  can  act  upon  the  sources  of  life.  When  these 
fountains  commence  to  be  purified,  little  by  little  the  stream 
of  humanity  going  from  them  will  become  clean  and  healthy. 
Boys  and  girls  from  pure  and  righteous  homes  carry  with 
them  the  strength  of  virtue,  the  consistency  of  truth,  the 
love  of  those  things  which  are  of  good  report,  the  fear  of 
evil  and  hatred  of  sin.  If  this  great  country  could  be 
divided  into  districts,  each  in  charge  of  a  home  lover,  and 
wise,  systematic  work  could  be  done,  the  need  for  places 
of  reformation  would  largely  disappear,  the  enemies  of  hu- 
manity would  be  met  at  the  gate  instead  of  at  the  back 
door,  the  principle  of  preventive  medicine  would  be  applied 
to  preventive  evil,  and  the  world  would  soon  have  higher 
ideals  and  better  citizenship.  To  a  considerable  extent  the 
effect  of  this  home  influence  has  been  demonstrated  by 
our  girls'  garden  and  canning  clubs,  to  which  allusion  has 
been  made,  and  it  is  honestly  believed  that  therein  lies,  to  a 
very  large  extent,  the  solution  of  segregated  districts,  the 
promotion  of  temperance,  the  advance  of  righteousness,  and 
the  love  and  service  of  God. 


II.    THE  CHURCH  AND  SOCIAL  SERVICE 


Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Church  and  Social 
Service 

The  Present  Social  Order  in  Conflict  with  the  Ideals 
of  the  Church 

The  Social  Message  of  the  Church  to  Modern  In- 
dustry 

The  Social  Mission  of  the  Church  to  City  Life 
The  Workingman  and  the  Church 
The  Sunday  School  as  an  Agency  for  Social  Service 
The  Religious  Basis  of  Social  Service 
The  Co-ordination  of  Social  and  Religious  Forces 
The  New  Profession  of  Social  Service  and  the  Train- 
ing of  Social  Workers 
The  Preparation  of  Ministers  for  Social  Service 
The  Preparation  of  a  Church  for  Social  Service 


REPORT   OF   THE   COMMITTEE    ON   THE    CHURCH 
AND  SOCIAL  SERVICE 

REV.  JOHN  A.  RICE,  D.D,,  CHAIRMAN.  FORT  WORTH,  TEX. 

Instead  of  a  sweeping  survey  of  the  field  in  the  South, 
I  have  chosen  to  present  to  you  a  report  of  work  done  in 
one  individual  church,  as  a  sort  of  type  now  possible  every- 
where. 

The  one  word  upon  the  lips  of  all  social  workers  is 
"education."  The  feeling  is  growing  everywhere  that  the 
people  must  be  taught.  The  feeling  is  also  growing  that 
the  Church  must  come  to  a  larger  place  in  this  important 
work,  through  the  education  of  the  masses.  Countless  thou- 
sands under  the  tuition  of  the  Church  never  see  the  college 
or  the  university,  never  see  even  the  high  school.  Have  we 
no  message  for  them?  Is  there  no  service  we  can  perform 
in  equipping  them  for  more  efficient  living?  Shall  we  un- 
dertake to  educate  the  few  while  the  many  go  untouched? 
I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  most  powerful  single 
educating  agency  outside  of  the  common  schools  is  the  local 
church.  There  is  no  vital  subject  through  the  whole  range 
of  human  interest  that  might  not  be  brought  through  this 
channel  to  bear  upon  the  life  of  every  congregation.  The 
Church  must  now  become  the  middleman  between  the  uni- 
versity and  the  people.  If  this  is  to  be  done,  a  thorough 
reorganization  of  the  educational  side  of  the  local  work  is 
necessary. 

All  the  great  denominations  have  therefore  appointed 
committees  to  work  out  plans,  both  for  the  local  congrega- 
tions and  the  general  Church.  This  indicates  a  growing 
conviction  that  we  yet  have  undreamed-of  possibilities  in 
the  Sunday  school  and  its  adjuncts.  I  personally  believe 
the  time  has  come  to  change  the  name  "Sunday  School"  to 
"School  of  the  Church,"  "Church  School,"  or  "Department 
of  Religious  Education  in  the  Local  Church,"  and  to  change 
the  names  of  the  officers  to  correspond  with  this  general 
conception.  The  following  work  is  now  in  progress  in  First 
Methodist  Church,  Fort  Worth,  Tex. : 


26  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

TRAINED  MOTHERHOOD 

We  have  organized  our  mothers  into  a  council  whose 
purpose  is  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  home.  They 
supervise  a  Sunday  school  class  which  studies  not  only  the 
Bible  but  also  child  life  and  welfare,  household  economics, 
eugenics,  etc.,  and  have  lectures  by  specialists.  They  buy 
the  graded  lesson  books  and  study  them  with  their  children 
and  make  it  possible  for  the  teachers  to  cooperate  with 
them  in  the  religious  training  of  their  children.  They 
have  also  a  Thursday  class  which  studies  at  present  the 
Montessori  system  as  applied  to  the  home.  They  go  to- 
gether with  their  children  at  intervals  to  the  woods  and 
study  nature  under  an  expert  who  shows  mothers  and  chil- 
dren what  to  see  and  how  to  see  it.  Occasional  conferences 
are  devoted  to  practical  problems. 

GRADED  INSTRUCTION 

We  are  trying  to  use  the  Bible  as  a  real  source  book  of 
religious  education,  adapting  its  rich  pedagogical  material 
to  the  epochs  of  the  child's  life,  to  the  changing  interests 
of  infancy  and  youth.  We  are  therefore  using  the  graded 
literature  in  all  departments. 

The  educational  activities  of  the  Church  are  correlated 
under  a  Committee  on  Religious  Education,  composed  of 
the  pastor,  the  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school,  a  rep- 
resentative from  the  Board  of  Stewards,  the  Woman's  Mis- 
sionary Society,  the  Epworth  League,  the  Brotherhood,  and 
the  Church  at  large.  The  Director  of  Religious  Education 
has  charge  of  the  whole. 

GRADED  WORSHIP 

The  individual  repeats  in  his  life  the  history  of  the  race, 
epoch  for  epoch.  The  child  lives  in  the  world  of  sense,  be- 
gins with  animism,  and  passes  through  all  the  varying 
stages  of  primitive  religions,  including  paganism.  Our 
teaching  and  our  appeal  must  therefore  be  made  in  terms 
of  these  advancing  interests,  if  it  is  to  be  effective;  and 
worship  must  express  the  real  life  of  the  child,  must  feed 
the  predominant  hungers.     As  these  hungers  change,  the 


REPORT  ON  THE  CHURCH  AND  SOCIAL  SERVICE  27 

forms  of  worship  must  change  with  them.  The  child  must 
be  helped  to  unfold  according  to  the  laws  of  its  own  life. 
The  regular  church  service  does  not  meet  these  needs. 
The  fact  that  eighty-five  per  cent  of  our  church  members 
come  from  the  Sunday  school,  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the 
pupils  do  not  attend  church,  and  at  least  forty  per  cent  dis- 
appear forever,  and  that  Jesus  is  present  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  as  low  as  five  per  cent  of  conversions,  would  in  the 
business  world  compel  immediate  attention.  We  are  there- 
fore grading  our  worship  in  three  separate  simultaneous 
services.  At  the  11-o'clock  hour  a  competent  nurse  cares 
for  those  under  two  and  a  half  in  a  nursery  fitted  up  for 
the  purpose,  thus  enabling  mothers  to  attend  church. 
From  two  and  a  half  to  seven  they  are  trained  in  self- 
expression  by  means  of  the  Montessori  apparatus,  clay- 
modeling,  songs,  nature  work,  story-telling,  etc.  The  aim 
here  is  to  teach  concentration,  self-command,  and  lead  them 
through  the  senses  to  God. 

From  seven  to  fourteen  they  worship  together  in  the 
Junior  Church,  which  is  organized  with  a  board  of  stewards, 
board  of  ushers,  a  choir,  a  secretary  and  treasurer.  They 
have  a  full  service  suited  to  their  needs,  including  proper 
songs,  responsive  reading,  a  sermon — all  conducted  by  the 
Director  of  Religious  Education,  who  is  their  pastor.  Their 
interest  is  steadily  deepening,  their  numbers  growing,  and 
the  eflfect  is  tonic  upon  the  whole  congregation.  It  is  bring- 
ing men  out  who  come  with  their  boys.  The  children  are 
devoted  to  what  each  calls  "My  church."  At  least  one- 
third  of  the  hundred  and  fifty  or  more  converts  in  our  re- 
cent revival  came  from  the  Junior  Church. 

GRADED  EXPRESSIONAL  ACTIVITIES 

Insight  outruns  power  to  act  in  youth.  Boys  and  girls 
see  much  farther  than  they  can  do.  How  then  shall  we 
bring  up  the  will?  What  is  unexpressed  dies.  And  each 
stage  of  life  to  be  conserved  must  be  expressed  in  terms 
of  its  own  capacities  and  interests.  But  no  complete  list 
of  things  that  can  be  done  at  each  stage  of  development 
has  yet  been  made.    Our  boys  under  twelve  are  organized 


28  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

into  the  "Brotherhood  of  David,"  those  over  twelve  into 
the  "Boy  Scouts,"  and  the  girls  into  the  "Camp  Fire  Girls." 
We  are  beginning  to  organize  the  "gangs"  in  certain  neigh- 
borhoods for  Bible  study,  gardening,  etc.  The  organized 
classes  are  directing  their  expressional  activities  into  lines 
of  social  service.  We  have  baseball  teams  and  other  means 
of  recreation  and  play. 

TRAINED  LEADERS 

We  have  electrified  our  Wednesday  evenings  by  making 
the  first  fifteen  minutes  a  strong  devotional  meeting;  the 
next  thirty  minutes  I  am  talking  on  "How  We  Got  Our 
Bible,"  after  which  we  break  up  into  classes  in  the  Bible, 
psychology,  Church  history,  missions  and  social  service, 
household  bacteriology,  and  such  other  subjects  as  are  help- 
ful in  the  art  of  living  rationally  and  efficiently.  These 
courses  will  be  changed  from  time  to  time  and  will  alternate 
so  that  each  can  take  all.  Still  other  classes  ramify  from 
these.  We  have  one  of  eighty-five  on  Tuesdays  studying 
Browning,  Tennyson,  and  the  Bible,  and  another  of  thirty- 
five  studying  Dante  and  the  Bible.  Yet  others  will  be  or- 
ganized. We  are  trying  to  act  as  middlemen  between  the 
university  and  the  people  in  matters  vital.  Friday  evenings 
are  open  to  free  lectures  on  the  fine  arts,  civics,  welfare 
work,  etc.    We  call  it  "Fine  Arts  Evening." 

THE  DIRECTOR  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

We  are  fortunate  to  have  as  Director  of  Religious  Edu- 
cation a  graduate  of  Yale,  who  has  charge  of  all  these  edu- 
cational activities.  This  office  must  now  be  recognized  as 
necessary  to  an  efficient  city  church. 

We  have  the  city  cut  up  into  fourteen  sections,  in  charge 
of  fourteen  captains,  all  men  but  one.  These  captains  have 
under  them  fourteen  teams.  Last  Sunday,  for  example, 
we  had  a  consecration  service  at  the  close  of  the  morning 
service.  I  called  for  those  who  were  willing  to  give  the 
afternoon  to  an  every-member  campaign  among  the  i)eople. 
About  seventy-five  men  responded,  and  in  a  beautiful  spirit 
presented  themselves  as  ready  to  go  at  the  bidding  of  the 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  29 

Church.  By  this  movement  we  were  able  to  reach  almost 
eyery  home  in  our  entire  charge  and  the  men  all  greatly 
enjoyed  the  work.  The  members  of  the  teams  were  sent 
out  by  their  captains,  two  by  two,  street  by  street.  This 
organization  enables  the  pastor  to  touch  the  whole  church 
in  a  few  hours,  although  we  have  some  fifteen  hundred 
members. 

RESULTS 

The  effects  are  visible  on  every  hand.  More  than  three 
hundred  people  are  instructed  in  classes  between  Sundays. 
The  whole  atmosphere  of  the  church  has  changed.  A  new 
spirit  is  born.  A  desire  to  help  others  is  finding  sponta- 
neous expression  all  over  the  congregation.  We  have  groups 
of  people  who  visit  and  carry  flowers  to  the  jails,  do  friendly 
visiting  among  the  poor,  conduct  Sunday  schools,  keep  in 
touch  with  the  city  administration,  the  almshouse,  hos- 
pitals, etc.  We  have  others  who  teach  in  the  social  set- 
tlement and  help  the  unemployed  and  the  needy.  The 
stirring  of  the  emotions  without  adequate  outlet  may  be 
damaging,  but  a  people  who  once  yield  fully  to  our  glorious 
evangel,  and  become  well  established,  can  never  go  back, 
can  never  again  escape  the  compelling  charm  of  the  Mas- 
ter's call  to  self-sacrificing  service. 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  IN  CONFLICT  WITH 
THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  CHURCH 

JAMES  R.  HOWERTON,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  PROFESSOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 
IN  WASHINGTON  AND  LEE  UNIVERSITY 

I  HAVE  been  given  thirty  minutes  for  the  discussion  of 
the  theme  which  has  been  assigned  me — a  broad  subject  and 
a  very  brief  time.  The  subject  is  somewhat  unfortunately 
worded  for  a  brief  discussion.  It  would  require  some  very 
exact  definitions  and  nice  discriminations.  In  the  first 
place,   it  would  be  difficult  to   define  the  Church.     The 


30  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

word  is  used  in  different  senses,  some  very  broad  and  some 
very  narrow.  A  great  deal  of  the  confusion  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  sphere  and  functions  of  the  Church  is  due 
to  the  failure  to  discriminate  between  the  Church  as  an 
organized  body,  exercising  her  functions  through  her  courts 
and  officers,  and  the  Church  as  simply  a  collective  term  for 
her  individual  members  and  adherents.  If  we  were  asked, 
"The  ideals  of  what  Church?"  it  would  take  some  little  time 
to  answer  the  question. 

It  would  be  more  difficult  to  say  just  what  are  the  ideals 
of  the  Church.  There  is  no  Church  considered  as  an  entity 
existing  apart  from  her  constituent  members  standing  in 
certain  relations  to  one  another.  The  ideals  of  the  Church 
are  the  ideals  of  her  members,  or  at  least  the  ruling  and 
influential  class  of  them,  at  any  given  period  in  her  history 
or  in  any  particular  division  of  the  Church.  What  the  ideals 
of  the  Church  are  and  what  they  ought  to  be  are  two  very 
different  questions.  The  ideals  of  the  Church  have  varied 
very  widely  in  different  ages  of  the  Church,  and  still  do  so 
in  different  portions.  There  is  no  form  of  privilege  by 
which  men  have  been  enabled  to  exploit  their  fellow  men 
that  has  not  at  one  time  or  another  received  the  sanction 
of  the  Church. 

The  divine  right  of  kings,  the  divine  ordination  of 
hereditary  ranks  and  classes,  and  the  divine  institution  of 
slavery  have  all  been  upheld  by  ecclesiastics,  if  not  held  as 
doctrines  of  the  Church.  Even  to-day  some  of  those  eco- 
nomic and  political  doctrines  which  most  obstruct  social 
progress  are  supposed  to  rest  upon  the  authority  of  the 
Scriptures  and  to  be  sanctioned  by  Divine  warrant. 

The  Church,  as  an  organized  institution,  has  always  been 
one  of  the  most  conservative  forces  in  history.  In  every 
great  revolutionary  crisis  in  history  the  orthodox  and  es- 
tablished Church  of  that  day  has  sided  with  the  existing 
order.  Political  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  reformers  have 
been  branded  as  heretics.  The  Church  has  not  only  de- 
fended her  own  forms,  rituals,  and  creeds  inherited  from 
the  past,  but  has  lent  her  aid  in  resisting  attacks  upon 
existing  political  and  economic  institutions. 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  31 

And  yet,  paradoxical  as  it  may  sound,  out  of  the  Church 
itself  have  come  some  of  the  most  progressive,  the  most 
radical,  the  most  revolutionary  forces  in  history.  Even 
where  these  forces  have  seemed  to  come  from  without  the 
Church,  they  may  be  traced,  sooner  or  later,  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Church  itself.  Such  forces  have  not  only  re- 
formed the  government,  creed,  and  rituals  of  the  Church 
itself,  but  they  have  been  potent  in  the  reformation  of  polit- 
ical and  economic  institutions.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  in  the  present  conflict,  when  the  real  battle  is  engaged 
(for  as  yet  the  fight  is  barely  begun),  the  Church  will  be 
found  divided  as  in  the  past. 

It  will  simplify  and  abbreviate  our  discussion  therefore 
to  change  the  wording  of  the  subject  to  "The  Present  Social 
Order  in  Conflict  with  the  Ideals  of  Christianity,  or  with 
Christian  Ethics." 

The  term  "Social  Order"  again  needs  definition.  Surely 
it  must  mean  something  more  than  social  conditions.  To 
show  that  present  social  conditions  are  in  conflict  with  the 
ideals  of  Christianity  it  would  only  be  necessary  to  enu- 
merate existing  evils.  The  real  question  is  whether  there 
are  organic  principles  at  the  very  basis  of  the  existing  social 
order  which  obstruct  progress  toward  the  Christian  ideal. 

Fortunately  there  is  very  little  difficulty  in  defining  the 
Christian  ideal,  if  we  shun  the  difficulties  of  speculative 
theology  and  metaphysical  ethics,  and  confine  ourselves  to  a 
common  sense  interpretation  of  the  plain  teachings  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  Christian  ideal  is  primarily  and  fundamentally  per- 
sonal and  individual.  The  perfect  man,  of  which  Christ 
himself  is  the  great  example,  is  the  ideal  of  Christian 
ethics.  To  save  individual  men  and  women  from  sin  and 
to  bring  them  into  conformity  with  this  ideal  was  the 
purpose  of  Christ  himself,  and  it  is  the  task  which  he  has 
committed  to  his  followers  and  to  his  Church.  Christian 
ethics  knows  nothing  of  any  "over-individual" — whether  it 
be  called  humanity,  society,  the  state,  the  Church,  or  the 
kingdom  of  heaven — existing  apart  from  or  above  the  con- 
stituent persons.    The  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the 


32  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

individual  person  is  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  any  of  these 
abstractions.  Duty  to  society,  to  the  state,  or  to  the  Church 
is  duty  toward  the  persons  who  constitute  them,  through 
and  by  means  of  organic  institutions.  Since  all  such  in- 
stitutions and  organic  relations  are  essential  to  the  moral 
and  spiritual  welfare  of  individual  men  and  women,  they 
are  proximate  ends  of  conduct,  but  they  in  turn  are  means 
to  the  welfare  of  individual  persons.  The  good  man  is  not 
merely  a  means  to  some  cosmic,  divine,  or  social  ideal,  but 
is  an  end  in  himself.  He  is  an  end  to  himself  and  to 
others,  an  end  worthy  not  only  of  human  striving  but  we 
may  reverently  say  of  the  highest  exercise  of  divine  power, 
wisdom,  love,  and  justice.  And  this  is  true  without  re- 
spect of  persons.  Not  only  is  there  no  distinction  between 
Jew  and  Gentile,  between  Greek  and  barbarian,  but  none 
of  race,  rank,  talent,  or  genius.  The  intrinsic  moral  value 
of  the  man  is  not  conditioned  upon  any  of  these  distinc- 
tions. There  is  no  spiritual  aristocracy  to  whose  moral 
welfare  all  beneath  are  servants.  On  the  contrary,  the 
greatest  is  the  servant  of  the  least.  The  higher  the  rank 
the  greater  the  number  of  those  beneath  to  whom  the 
service  of  love  is  due. 

Nor  is  there  any  serious  difficulty  in  the  definition  of 
the  "good  man."  Jesus  Christ  has  not  only  exemplified  this 
ideal  in  his  own  person,  but  he  has  defined  it  in  a  few  simple 
sentences  more  clearly  than  all  the  ethical  philosophers  from 
Aristotle  to  Green  have  done  with  their  profound  meta- 
physical reasonings.  The  good  man  is  one  who  loves  God 
with  all  his  heart  and  his  neighbor  as  himself,  even  though 
that  neighbor  be  a  Samaritan ;  the  man  who  loves  the  truth 
and  who  loves  righteousness.  In  Christian  ethics  love, 
justice,  and  truth  are  the  intrinsic  moral  attributes,  con- 
stitutive of  character  and  regulative  of  conduct.  To  perfect 
these  attributes  in  the  greatest  i)ossible  number  of  men  and 
women,  to  bring  all  the  desires,  affections,  and  sentiments 
of  human  nature  into  harmony  with  these,  and  to  produce 
the  greatest  amount  of  that  kind  of  happiness  of  which  a 
virtuous  character  is  the  ground  and  condition,  constitutes 
the  end  of  Christian  ethics.    The  moral  value  of  all  acts. 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  33 

conduct,  and  habits  of  individuals,  of  all  social  customs, 
laws,  and  institutions,  is  determined  by  their  utility  to 
this  end. 

Nevertheless  the  Christian  ideal  is  a  social  ideal.  Chris- 
tian ethics  knows  no  more  of  a  good  man  existing  apart 
from  the  social  relations  than  it  does  of  a  society  existing 
apart  from  its  constituent  individuals.  Thomas  Hill  Green 
exactly  expressed  the  truth  of  Christian  ethics  when  he 
said:  "Without  society  no  persons — ^that  is  as  true  as  that 
without  persons  there  could  be  no  such  society  as  we  know." 
The  very  attributes,  love,  justice,  and  truth,  which  are  es- 
sential elements  of  the  definition  of  the  personal  ideal, 
imply  the  social  relations.  They  are  born  with  the  social 
relations,  are  the  bond  of  those  relations,  and  develop  with 
those  relations.  The  moral  sentiments  and  the  social  re- 
lations reciprocally  condition  one  another.  As  the  traits  of 
love,  justice,  and  truth  develop  in  the  individual,  they  not 
only  bind  him  more  closely  to  his  fellows,  but  to  an  ever- 
increasing  number  of  them,  and  in  an  ever-increasing  com- 
plexity of  relations  of  interdependence  and  reciprocal  serv- 
ice. This  expansion  of  social  relations,  in  turn,  serves  to 
expand,  intensify,  and  strengthen  the  moral  powers  of  the 
soul. 

But  the  social  ideal  is  not  the  mere  sum  of  individual 
ideals.  While  society  is  not  an  abstract  entity  existing  apart 
from  its  constituent  individuals,  yet  it  is  more  than  a  mere 
aggregation  of  those  individuals.  It  is  an  organism,  in 
which  different  persons  stand  in  different  relations  and 
exercise  different  functions  toward  one  another  and  to  the 
social  body.  The  family  is  the  fundamental  social  organism, 
and  out  of  that  grows  the  tribe,  the  state,  the  nation. 
With  them  develop  diversity  of  gifts,  functions,  and  rela- 
tions between  individuals  and  the  social  organism. 

Finally,  as  the  result  of  the  advance  of  civilization,  grows 
the  whole  human  organism,  always  tending  to  approach 
greater  solidarity  and  unity.  As  the  individual  is  thus 
brought  into  wider  and  closer  relations  to  his  fellows  and 
to  society  as  a  whole,  his  influence  upon  the  moral  welfare 
of  society,  and  through  its  institutions  upon  the  moral  wel- 

3 


34  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

fare  of  other  persons,  increases  at  the  same  time  with  his 
dependence  upon  other  persons,  upon  society  and  social  in- 
stitutions for  his  own  welfare.  A  better  state  of  society 
can  only  be  brought  about  by  making  better  men  and 
women,  but  a  better  state  of  society  helps  to  make  better 
men  and  women.  The  betterment  of  the  organic  institu- 
tions and  the  purification  of  social  relations  therefore  be- 
come a  moral  end.  The  social  ideal  is  the  embodiment  of 
the  principles  of  love,  justice,  and  truth  in  all  the  relations, 
laws,  and  institutions  of  society.  As  in  the  individual  the 
body  with  desires  and  appetites  must  be  made  the  servant 
of  the  soul,  so  in  the  social  body  all  economic  and  civil  in- 
stitutions and  methods  by  which  man's  physical  needs  are 
served  must  be  subordinated  to  those  which  promote  the 
moral  welfare  of  the  race.  The  material  welfare  must  be 
made  the  servant  of  the  moral  welfare  of  the  social  or- 
ganism, and  not  the  reverse.  Economics,  politics,  and  juris- 
prudence must  be  reinterpreted  under  the  categories  of 
ethics  and  religion  to  make  them  contributory  to  the  moral 
and  spiritual  welfare  of  mankind.  The  social  organism 
must  be  leavened  with  the  same  principles  which  con- 
stitute individual  character  until  it  becomes  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  The  Christian  ideal  of  the  perfect  man  there- 
fore necessarily  involves  the  Christian  social  ideal  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

Now  what  have  social  conditions,  especially  political  and 
economic  conditions,  or  all  those  which  are  called  secular, 
to  do  with  the  promotion  or  hindrance  of  these  Christian 
ideals?  They  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it.  But  it  is 
just  here  that  we  find  ourselves  between  the  fires  of  two 
contending  armies.  On  the  one  side  we  have  the  socialists 
of  the  materialistic  school  who  maintain  that  economic  con- 
ditions have  everything  to  do  with  man's  moral  welfare. 
Man  is  the  product  of  his  environment.  If  he  is  bad,  it  is 
only  because  his  environment  is  bad;  change  that  environ- 
ment and  he  will  become  a  good  man.  As  that  environment 
is  material,  all  that  is  necessary  to  bring  a  Utopian  mil- 
lennium is  an  economic  revolution  under  socialistic  prin- 
ciples.   We  may  pass  this  with  the  remark  that  it  is  diffi- 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  35 

cult  to  see  how,  on  such  a  fatalistic  theory,  any  force  is  to 
arise  which  will  make  a  good  environment  out  of  bad  men 
or  good  men  out  of  bad  environment;  how  a  system  which, 
confessedly,  must  have  begun  in  brute  selfishness  can  de- 
velop any  altruism  or  philanthropy  which  would  better  so- 
cial conditions.  On  the  other  side  we  have  the  orthodox 
and  conservative  element  of  the  Church,  who  are  jealous  of 
any  emphasis  upon  the  effect  of  economic  conditions  upon 
man's  moral  and  spiritual  welfare;  and  that,  strange  to 
say,  for  two  reasons  that  are  quite  as  difficult  to  reconcile 
with  one  another  as  either  is  with  the  effect  of  a  social 
environment. 

On  the  one  hand  it  is  feared  that  undue  emphasis  upon 
social  influences  may  destroy  the  doctrine  of  man's  freedom 
and  obscure  the  personal  responsibility  for  his  own  charac- 
ter; on  the  other  side  it  is  feared  that  it  will  belittle  the 
doctrines  of  Divine  grace,  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  regeneration  and  sanctification,  of  the  redeeming  work 
of  Christ,  and  lead  to  the  neglect  of  all  the  spiritual  influ- 
ences necessary  to  man's  salvation  from  sin.  For  these 
reasons  the  more  conservative  element  in  the  Church  even 
now  are  viewing  with  alarm  and  suspicion  this  whole  move- 
ment for  social  reform.  The  question  is  dividing  every 
branch  of  the  Church  into  conservatives  and  progressives 
on  a  new  issue.  This  difference  is  seen,  not  only  in  the 
work  at  home,  but  also  in  the  foreign  mission  fields.  A 
missionary  to  Alaska  in  the  early  days  found  that  his 
work  among  the  Eskimos  was  hopeless  until  he  could  de- 
velop their  family  life.  He  wrote  to  his  Board  for  tools 
and  materials  to  teach  them  to  build  houses.  He  was  curtly 
informed  that  he  had  been  sent  to  preach  the  gospel,  not 
to  teach  the  Indians  how  to  build  houses.  Whereupon  he 
resigned  and  devoted  himself  to  preparing  the  way  for 
other  missionaries.  Boards  of  Foreign  Missions  have 
learned  something  since  that  time,  but  the  same  spirit  is 
manifested  in  other  matters. 

The  speculative  reconciliation  of  the  doctrine  of  human 
freedom  and  responsibility  with  the  efficiency  of  Di\'ine 
grace  on  the  one  hand  and  with  the  causal  influence  of  en- 


36  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

vironment  on  the  other  is  too  difficult  a  question  for  us  to 
enter  into  here.  Philosophers  and  theologians  have  wres- 
tled with  this  problem  for  thousands  of  years,  and  have  not 
solved  it  yet;  and  what  is  more,  they  never  will  solve  it. 
It  is  enough  to  say  in  passing  that  this  is  a  metaphysical 
puzzle  which  grows  out  of  the  attempt  of  man  to  view  him- 
self as  an  object  in  nature,  coordinate  with  other  objects, 
and  to  affirm  the  same  kind  of  causal  relations  between 
himself  and  his  objective  environment  as  between  objects 
in  that  environment,  or  else  to  deny  any  causal  relation  at 
all.  This  is  as  impossible  as  to  get  up  and  look  at  our- 
selves from  behind,  or  to  take  out  our  own  eyes  and  look 
at  them.  Causality  and  freedom  as  thus  viewed  are  not 
realities,  but  shadow  images  of  the  realities  of  which  we 
are  immediately  self-conscious.  The  dilemma  of  necessi- 
tarianism and  indeterminism  is  not  a  real  dilemma,  but  only 
apparently  so. 

In  discussing  the  moral  influence  of  social  conditions  we 
seem  to  be  regarding  the  character  of  the  individual  as  the 
necessary  product  of  such  influences;  but  in  urging  the 
duty  of  the  individual  to  aid  in  the  reformation  of  such 
social  conditions  we  must  assume  his  freedom.  Common 
sense  finds  no  practical  difficulty  in  assuming  these  points 
of  view  alternately,  but  philosophy  never  has  been  and 
never  will  be  able  to  see  both  causality  and  freedom  at  the 
same  instant  and  from  the  same  point  of  view. 

A  system  of  nature  in  which  man  is  a  passive  object 
among  other  objects  could  never  produce  either  righteous- 
ness or  sin.  It  is  the  power  of  will  which  gives  moral 
meaning  to  the  solicitations  received  from  environment  as 
well  as  to  the  ensuing  reaction  upon  that  environment. 
Nature's  forces  do  not  enter  and  pass  through  the  human 
soul  merely  to  emerge  again  unchanged.  In  that  passage 
they  have  acquired  something  that  cannot  be  estimated  as 
a  physical  force. 

That  there  is  a  reciprocal  causal  relation  between  char- 
acter and  environment  is  a  fact  beyond  all  possibility  of 
refutation.  There  are  social  conditions  which  encourage 
virtue  and  there  are  others  which  produce  vice  by  the 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  37 

wholesale ;  yet  the  same  results  would  not  follow,  either  for 
virtue  or  vice,  if  man  were  the  passive  product  of  his  en- 
vironment. The  most  conservative  of  the  Churches  rec- 
ognize these  facts  in  their  insistence  upon  the  sanctity  of 
the  home,  the  influence  of  parental  teaching  and  example, 
and  so  on.  And  well  they  may,  for  out  of  such  homes,  it 
is  safe  to  say,  the  Church  gets  the  vast  majority  of  her 
members.  But  the  moral  influence  of  the  home  is  affected 
by  economic  conditions.  How  can  there  be  a  home  when 
a  man  cannot  earn  enough  in  a  day's  labor  to  support  a 
wife  and  children?  How  can  there  be  any  family  training 
when  not  only  the  father  and  the  mother,  but  the  little 
children  themselves,  are  compelled  to  work  from  ten  to 
twelve  hours  a  day  in  factories  and  sweatshops  to  obtain 
a  bare  sustenance?  More  than  this,  these  classes  have  too 
much  reason  for  their  complaint  that  the  gospel  itself  is 
preached  to  them  by  hirelings  of  the  capitalistic  class  and 
that  the  Church  is  trying  to  bribe  them  to  submit  to  the 
wrongs  they  endure  in  this  life  by  promises  of  a  life  to 
come.  The  Church  must  prove  her  sincerity  by  seeking  to 
save  men  from  the  hells  in  this  world  if  she  would  have 
them  hear  her  message  of  a  life  beyond  the  grave.  The 
duty  can  no  longer  be  postponed;  the  day  has  come  when 
the  Church  must  seek  the  reformation  of  social  conditions, 
the  purification  of  social  relations  and  institutions,  the  abo- 
lition of  political  and  economic  abuses,  the  realization  of 
her  Master's  social  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth. 
The  power  and  influence  of  the  Church  upon  succeeding 
generations,  not  to  say  her  life,  depend  upon  her  faithful- 
ness in  the  discharge  of  this  task. 

Now  what  is  there  in  the  social  order  that  is  in  conflict 
with  these  ideals  of  the  Church?  I  must  specialize  the  eco- 
nomic order,  not  only  because  my  time  is  brief,  but  because 
that  is  receiving  especial  attention  at  this  time,  and  be- 
cause it  is  now  seen  that  that  is  just  where  the  trouble  lies. 
Our  fathers  addressed  themselves  to  the  reformation  of  the 
political  order.  It  was  supposed  that  if  the  political  order 
was  reformed  the  economic  order  would  adjust  itself. 
We  have  awakened  to  the  fact  that  under  the  forms  of 


38  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

constitutional  government  and  political  freedom  there  is 
the  possibility  of  an  economic  despotism  more  tyrannical 
than  the  military  and  of  an  economic  slavery  worse  than 
chattel  slavery  and  serfdom.  The  political  system  is  simply 
a  means  to  the  economic,  and  we  are  now  beginning  to  see 
that  the  economic  order  is  simply  a  means  to  the  ethical 
order.  The  reformation  of  the  political  order  does  nothing 
more  than  clear  the  way  for  the  reformation  of  the  eco- 
nomic, and  when  we  shall  have  succeeded  in  reforming  the 
economic  order  we  shall  find  that  we  have  done  nothing 
more  than  to  remove  obstructions  and  to  provide  the  es- 
sential means  and  conditions  for  the  working  of  moral  and 
spiritual  forces  toward  the  perfection  of  the  ethical  order. 

Our  present  social  order  is  in  conflict  with  the  ideals  of 
Christianity  because  the  organic  principle  of  our  economic 
system  is  selfishness,  whereas  the  organic  principle  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  love.  In  our  system  he  who  needs 
most  must  serve  him  who  has  the  most;  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  he  who  has  most  must  serve  him  who  needs  most. 
In  the  existing  system  superiority  of  strength,  of  intellectual 
ability,  of  social  or  official  rank,  enable  the  higher  to  com- 
pel the  lower  to  minister  to  their  pleasure;  in  the  ideal 
social  order  they  would  be  the  means  by  which  the  higher 
would  seek  to  raise  the  lower  to  their  own  social  level. 

Now  self-interest  is  not  the  same  thing  as  selfishness, 
nor  does  the  principle  of  benevolence  toward  our  fellow 
man  necessarily  preclude  a  legitimate  regard  for  our  own 
interest.  Life,  liberty,  and  property  are  essential  means 
to  the  moral  welfare  of  the  individual,  and  when  they  are 
sought  and  used  as  a  means  to  that  end  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  individual  to  defend  those  rights  against  the  wrong- 
doer, and  it  is  the  duty  of  society  to  protect  the  individual 
in  the  legitimate  exercise  of  those  rights.  But  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  moral  end  as  defined  in  Christian  ethics, 
the  use  of  such  rights  for  such  an  end  not  only  does  not 
conflict  with  the  moral  welfare  of  other  individuals  and 
of  the  social  organism,  but  tends  rather  to  promote  it.  The 
individual  cannot  seek  his  own  moral  welfare  without  mak- 
ing himself  a  better  servant  of  society,  nor  can  he  seek  the 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  39 

moral  welfare  of  his  fellows  without  making  himself  a 
better  man.  The  progress  of  civilization  in  the  sciences 
and  the  arts,  by  multiplying  the  resources  of  nature,  would 
tend  to  make  the  conditions  of  life  easier,  to  do  away  with 
the  struggle  for  the  means  of  a  bare  existence,  and  thus 
would  tend  to  reconcile  all  conflicts  between  the  legitimate 
self-interest  of  individuals  or  between  the  interest  of  the 
individual  and  that  of  the  social  body. 

When  pleasure  is  made  the  chief  end  of  life,  self-interest 
becomes  selfishness.  The  direction  of  the  moral  progress 
of  society  is  reversed  and  tends  rather  to  the  development 
of  selfishness  and  sin.  The  struggle  for  the  possession  of 
the  resources  of  nature,  so  far  from  being  pacified  by  the 
progress  of  civilization,  becomes  more  intense.  For  with 
that  progress  man  not  only  increases  his  means  of  satis- 
fying the  wants  which  he  already  has,  but  he  increases  his 
wants.  With  the  development  of  his  nature  come  new 
capacities  for  pleasure.  Now  if  those  pleasures  be  made 
the  chief  end  of  life  and  the  desire  of  pleasure  its  ruling 
motive,  not  only  are  man's  natural  appetites  and  desires 
subverted  by  the  desire  of  pleasure,  but  they  are  perverted 
and  depraved  by  it.  This  desire  for  pleasure  enslaves  ev- 
ery desire,  affection,  and  sentiment  which  can  be  made  to 
serve  it,  and  makes  war  upon  all  that  will  not  submit  to 
its  tyranny.  It  is  an  enemy  to  every  will  of  love,  justice, 
or  truth,  human  or  divine,  which  resists  it.  Those  en- 
dowed by  nature  with  superior  physical  strength  or  intel- 
lectual cunning  use  these  gifts  for  the  exploitation  of  their 
fellow  men  to  gratify  their  own  inordinate  and  selfish  de- 
sires for  pleasure.  Money,  rank,  and  power  are  sought 
exclusively  as  means  to  pleasure.  The  slave  must  sweat 
for  his  master's  ease,  the  peasant  must  be  taxed  to  build 
the  palaces  and  support  the  courtesans  of  his  prince,  thou- 
sands of  poor  men  must  toil  to  make  one  man  rich.  Nor 
does  the  process  stop  when  the  selfish  man  has  acquired  all 
and  more  than  he  can  spend  on  his  own  pleasure  and  that 
of  his  satellites.  The  love  of  money  itself  becomes  an  in- 
satiable craving.  The  millionaire  must  become  a  multi- 
millionaire, and  the  multimillionaire  would  not  be  satisfied 
if  he  became  a  billionaire. 


40  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

The  vice  of  our  economic  system  is  that  it  not  only  en- 
courages selfishness,  but  compels  selfishness.  It  not  only 
gives  a  tremendous  advantage  to  the  willfully  selfish  man 
who  deliberately  seeks  wealth  and  power  to  gratify  his 
own  desires  for  pleasure,  but  necessitates  a  struggle  be- 
tween those  who  would  otherwise  be  unselfish  for  the  nec- 
essary means  to  the  moral  welfare  of  themselves  and  their 
families.  It  not  only  gives  our  bad  motives  an  advantage 
over  our  good  ones,  but  necessitates  a  conflict  between  our 
good  motives.  Love  of  home  conflicts  with  patriotism, 
love  of  family  with  philanthropy.  It  not  only  encourages 
war  between  the  good  and  bad  elements  of  society,  but 
puts  good  men  and  women  at  odds  with  one  another.  In 
seeking  to  defend  ourselves  and  our  families  against  the 
selfish  man,  we  must  fight  one  another.  To  support. and 
educate  my  family  I  must  buy  my  clothes  as  cheaply  as  I 
can  get  them.  To  get  my  custom  my  storekeeper  must 
buy  as  cheaply  as  possible,  the  jobber  must  buy  as  cheaply 
as  possible  from  the  manufacturer,  and  he  must  pay  as 
little  as  possible  for  his  raw  material  and  for  his  labor. 
Sweat  shops  are  an  inevitable  result  of  bargain  counters. 
The  laborer  must  organize  to  protect  his  rights  against 
the  selfishness  of  capital,  and  in  doing  so  he  must  injure 
the  consumer.  The  result  is  that  our  whole  economic  sys- 
tem is  a  war.  It  may  be  a  civilized  war,  its  horrors  may 
to  some  extent  be  palliated  by  amendments  of  the  code 
of  war,  but  it  is  war  none  the  less;  and  war,  under  the 
best  of  circumstances,  is  hell  for  somebody.  The  develop- 
ment of  money  as  a  medium  of  exchange,  in  all  its  forms, 
not  only  of  silver  and  gold,  bank  notes  and  currency,  but 
of  stocks  and  bonds,  has  intensified  this  struggle.  While 
essential  to  the  advance  of  civilization,  it  has  rendered  pos- 
sible an  inequality  in  the  distribution  of  wealth  which  would 
have  been  impossible  under  any  system  of  immediate  ex- 
change of  values.  The  economic  system  thus  developed 
gives  a  tremendous  and  utterly  unfair  advantage  to  that 
class  who  engage  in  the  financial  operations  which  facilitate 
the  exchange  of  values.  Not  only  the  capitalist  who  has 
earned  and  saved  his  capital,  but  the  promoter,  the  stock- 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  41 

broker,  and  the  speculator  accumulate  enormous  fortunes 
at  the  expense  of  their  fellow  men.  Not  only  by  the  ap- 
propriation of  nature's  resources  and  the  monopoly  of  the 
machines  for  their  manufacture  and  transportation,  but 
by  the  watering  of  stocks,  the  manipulation  of  stock  mar- 
kets, and  the  corruption  of  politics,  a  very  small  portion 
of  the  social  body  are  enabled  to  acquire  the  stocks  and 
bonds  which  represent  the  greater  part  of  the  wealth  of 
the  people  without  giving  even  a  fractional  proportion  of 
value  to  society  in  their  own  labor.  We  have  long  passed 
the  stage  where  money  is  a  simple  medium  of  exchange  of 
service  for  service,  of  value  for  value.  It  is  a  means  of 
enslaving  the  needy  and  of  seducing  the  covetous.  Precise- 
ly because  money  can  be  acquired  without  labor  and  can 
gratify  every  selfish  and  corrupt  desire,  the  love  of  it  has 
become  the  most  consummate  and  diabolical  form  of  human 
selfishness  and  a  root  of  every  kind  of  evil. 

Now  what  is  the  remedy  ?  I  cannot  answer  this  question, 
not  only  because  I  have  not  the  time,  but  because  I  do  not 
know.  My  own  department  of  thought  is  ethics,  and  while 
I  have  a  very  clear  conviction  of  the  true  ethical  end,  I  do 
not  pretend  to  know  what  are  necessary  political  and  eco- 
nomic means  to  the  attainment  of  that  end.  It  is  the  task 
of  the  moralists  to  define  the  ethical  end  and  of  the  preach- 
ers to  quicken  the  motives  which  will  prompt  men  to  seek 
that  end  rather  than  their  own  pleasure;  but  it  is  the 
task  of  the  economists  and  financiers,  of  the  statesmen  and 
of  the  jurists,  animated  by  unselfish  motives,  to  devise  the 
necessary  political  and  economic  means  to  the  attainment 
of  that  end.  This  must  be  said,  however :  that  there  never 
will  be  an  adequate  provision  of  the  means  without  a  clear 
definition  of  the  end.  False  ethical  theories,  by  an  inevita- 
ble logic,  lead  to  false  economic  and  political  theories. 
President  Hadley  in  a  recent  article*  says :  "There  was  no 
necessary  antagonism  between  utilitarianism  and  Chris- 
tianity."   If  he  uses  the  word  in  its  traditional  sense  of 


♦"Education  and  the  New  Morality,"  Religious  Educator,  April, 
1914. 


42  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

Hedonistic  utilitarianism,  there  is  diametrical  opposition 
between  it  and  Christianity.  Hedonism,  or  that  system  of 
ethics  which  conditions  the  moral  value  of  virtue  upon  its 
utility  to  pleasure,  is  essentially  an  egoistic  and  individual- 
istic system,  and  every  altruistic  and  universalistic  modi- 
fication of  it  in  modern  ethics  is  inconsistent  with  its  fun- 
damental tenet.  Selfishness  is  the  type  to  which  it  in- 
evitably tends  to  revert  whenever  the  influence  of  Christian 
morality  and  idealistic  ethics  is  removed.  It  will  make  a 
tremendous  difference  in  our  economic  and  political  systems 
whether  we  regard  them  as  means  to  the  greatest  amount 
of  pleasure  to  the  greatest  number  of  people  or  as  means 
to  producing  the  greatest  number  of  good  men  and  women. 
Our  economic  problems  will  never  be  settled  until  they  are 
settled  right,  and  that  means  not  only  intellectually  but 
morally  right. 

Whether  some  form  of  socialism  or  communistic  owner- 
ship of  natural  resources,  of  the  means  for  its  manufacture 
and  of  the  facilities  for  its  transportation  and  distribution, 
may  prove  to  be  the  only  or  the  best  means  for  the  attain- 
ment of  the  ethical  end  of  society,  is  not  for  the  moralist 
to  say.  But  this  is  certain,  that  no  form  of  socialism  will 
of  itself  cure  the  evils  of  society  or  consummate  the  social 
ideal.  Even  if  it  prove  to  be  the  right  system,  the  most 
that  it  can  do  is  to  open  the  way  for  the  more  effective  op- 
eration of  moral  and  spiritual  forces.  But  if  socialism  in 
some  form  should  prove  to  be  the  only  or  the  best  economic 
method  for  the  attainment  of  the  ethical  end,  then  by  all 
means  let  us  have  socialism.  The  day  is  past  when  men 
can  be  frightened  from  the  investigation  of  the  truth  by 
the  mere  prejudice  against  a  name.  But  if  socialists  ex- 
pect a  favorable  consideration  of  their  doctrines  from  the 
Christian  elements  of  society,  they  must  divorce  that  un- 
natural and  illogical  union  between  true  socialistic  princi- 
ples and  the  doctrines  of  materialism  and  atheism  which 
has  been  brought  about  by  some  of  its  advocates. 

Another  thing  is  clear,  that  the  Christian  ideal  of  society 
can  never  be  brought  about  by  force.  Force  is  itself  an 
appeal  to  selfish  motives,  and  cannot  therefore  bring  about 


THE  PRESENT  SOCIAL  ORDER  43 

a  state  of  society  whose  organic  principle  is  brotherly  love. 
Force  is  necessary  indeed  to  remove  obstructions  and  hin- 
drances. If  the  selfish  man  cannot  be  persuaded  to  pro- 
mote the  moral  progress  of  society,  he  must  be  made  to 
stand  out  of  its  way. 

For  the  same  reason  we  cannot  promote  the  social  ideal 
by  indiscriminate  denunciation  of  the  rich  and  powerful, 
by  inflaming  class  hatred,  and  arraying  class  against  class. 
Some  of  the  bitterest  foes  of  our  present  social  system  are 
animated  by  motives  as  selfish  and  corrupt  as  the  motives 
of  some  of  those  who  uphold  it.  If  we  ally  ourselves  with 
this  element  and  aid  in  their  triumph,  we  shall  find  that 
we  have  merely  turned  society  upside  down  without  making 
it  any  better,  to  say  the  least. 

Nor  will  this  movement  ever  be  successful  unless  we 
can  enlist  in  our  cause  some  of  the  very  men  against  whom 
we  are  now  fighting.  No  struggle  for  the  people's  cause 
was  ever  successful  without  the  aid  of  some  of  those  whose 
self-interest  alone  would  have  allied  them  with  the  class  of 
the  oppressors.  To  enlist  them  we  must  appeal  to  their 
philanthropy  and  sense  of  justice  against  their  own  selfish- 
ness. The  financial  and  political  leaders  of  coming  genera- 
tions must  ally  themselves  in  syndicates  and  political  par- 
ties, not  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  their  own  wealth 
and  power,  but  for  the  purpose  of  bettering  the  social  con- 
ditions of  the  whole  people.  It  is  equally  clear  that  this 
reformation  cannot  be  brought  about  by  individuals  acting 
severally.  The  evils  have  been  brought  about  by  selfish 
men  acting  together  for  their  common  self-interest;  they 
must  be  reformed  by  the  cooperation  of  unselfish  men  act- 
ing for  the  interest  of  the  whole  people.  One  Ford,  how- 
ever inspiring  his  example,  cannot  effect  a  revolution  in 
business  methods.  When  the  same  motives  which  have 
brought  this  body  together  actuate  political  conventions, 
legislatures,  and  congresses,  financial  meetings  of  stock- 
holders and  directors,  and  syndicates  of  capitalists  as  well 
as  labor  unions,  then,  and  not  until  then,  may  we  feel  that 
the  answer  is  approaching  to  our  prayer,  "Thy  kingdom 
come." 


44         BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

Nor  is  this  now  universally  regarded  as  a  millennial  or 
Utopian  dream.  The  number  is  increasing  every  day  of 
those  who  believe  that  the  ideals  of  Jesus  are  the  goal  of 
human  history.  Events  are  transpiring  which  are  con- 
vincing many  of  the  skeptics  that  the  principles  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  can  be  put  into  practice  in  the  relations 
between  employer  and  employee,  between  the  capitalist  and 
the  laborer,  the  producer  and  the  consumer,  between  rulers 
and  their  people,  between  nation  and  nation.  The  past 
century  witnessed  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  civilized  lands, 
which,  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  was  thought  to  be 
impossible.  The  present  century  will  witness  the  abolition 
of  many  evils  now  thought  to  be  ineradicable.  War  is  one 
of  them.  The  liquor  traffic  is  another.  Child  labor  is  an- 
other. CJommercialized  prostitution  may  be  another.  Let 
us  hope  and  pray  and  work  that  economic  slavery  and  pov- 
erty may  be  added  to  this  list. 


THE  SOCIAL  MESSAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO 
MODERN  INDUSTRY 

REV.  C.  A.  WATERFIELD,  PARIS,  TENN. 
I 

In  the  ancient  Book  of  its  origins  the  Church  is  desig- 
nated variously  as — 

The  House  of  God, 

The  Place  of  Prayer, 

The  Sanctuary, 

The  Assembly  of  the  Righteous, 

The  Flock  of  God, 

The  Temple, 

The  Jewish  Community, 

The  Body  of  Christ, 

The  Bride  of  the  Lord, 

The  Congregation  of  the  Saints, 

The  Body  of  Believers, 

The  Holy  City. 


MESSAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  INDUSTRY  45 

These  dozen  designations,  and  perhaps  as  many  more, 
are  from  this  source  alone.  Assuredly  there  has  been  no 
want  of  effort  in  the  literature  of  religion  to  give  name  to 
this  organ  of  religion.  Yet  the  effort  nowhere  even  ap- 
proaches success ;  and  the  result,  notwithstanding  the  wealth 
of  poetic,  philosophic,  and  practical  suggestion  lavished  upon 
it,  is  left  fragmentary  and  unfinished. 

In  the  centuries  that  have  followed  the  ultimate  de- 
scription has  remained  equally  as  elusive.  Whether  re- 
garded as  the  politico-ecclesiastical  establishment  of  Moses, 
as  the  spiritual  fabric  built  by  Christ  on  the  fisherman's 
confession,  or  as  the  ganglion  center  of  our  modern  mingled 
reverence  and  complaint,  there  has  been  found  no  word 
or  way  of  thinking  in  modern  life  with  which  one  may 
feel  sure  at  once  of  grasping  and  of  setting  forth  this  his- 
toric and  elemental  institution.  She  has  been  with  us  from 
of  old,  seldom  satisfactory,  never  negligible.  On  the  hu- 
man side,  she  is  like  a  sort  of  wife  of  the  world,  sometimes 
hard  to  be  got  on  with,  always  impossible  to  be  got  on  with- 
out. She  may  be  feared,  fought,  hated,  adored,  but  not 
despised.  And  she  is  with  us  this  day,  the  greatest  in- 
stitution, looked  at  every  way,  amongst  men ;  to  be  reckoned 
with  by  all  who  think,  or  work,  or  care. 

Why  not  be  glad  that  she  is  not  so  rigidly  definable  ?  The 
growthless  image  of  Diana,  that  fell  from  heaven  at  Ephe- 
sus,  was  that.  Why  not  understand  that  the  Church,  the 
real,  the  living  Church,  whom  "age  cannot  wither  nor  cus- 
tom stale,"  does  not  seek  to  set  up  for  one  time  and  country 
the  definitions  and  ideals  of  another  time  and  country? 
Why  not  dare  hope  that  the  Church  was  from  the  beginning 
intended  by  her  God  to  be  all  that  men,  her  sons,  through 
all  their  passing  generations,  should  need  her  to  be?  Why 
not  dare  say  that  there  has  been  at  last  found  what  has 
been  well  named  the  common  denominator  of  all  these  mul- 
tiplied denominations;  and  that  that  common  denominator 
consists  of  the  actual  religious,  social,  and  industrial  lives 
being  at  any  given  time  lived  by  their  members?  In  this 
day  of  self-adding  and  self-subtracting  machines,  men  of 
the  world  are  no  longer  left  incapable  of  reducing  the  re- 


46  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

ligious  appeals  and  the  ecclesiastical  claims  of  the  churches 
to  this  common  denominator.  And  in  the  sequel  it  will  be 
found  that  the  Master's  paradox,  "Whosoever  willeth  to 
save  his  life  shall  lose  it;  but  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  the 
sake  of  others  shall  save  it,"  is  no  less  applicable  to  churches 
than  to  individuals. 

To  raise  the  value  of  this  common  denominator,  to  en- 
rich the  volume  of  this  common  service,  to  bear  onward 
the  banner  of  this  common  life  on  the  earth  together — ^this 
is  the  determining  law  of  a  church,  as  power  is  the  de- 
termining law  of  an  engine,  or  beauty  of  a  flower.  And 
in  this  function  and  effort,  whatever  the  false  emphasis 
which  for  a  time  she  may  have  seemed  to  put  on  some  one 
side  of  the  truth,  she  has  achieved  a  record  unmatched  and 
is  invested  with  an  opportunity  unparalleled.  The  fraternal 
orders  are  proud  to  dispute  with  her  a  fragment  of  her 
beneficent  program,  and  to  borrow  of  her  oil  of  consolation 
in  the  hour  of  death  when  the  Bridegroom  comes ;  the  great 
journals  plume  their  editorial  pages  with  the  stolen  glory 
of  her  good  tidings;  and  what  secret  society  or  modem 
brotherhood  can  offer  to  a  loyal  son  of  the  living  Church  a 
single  additional  incentive  to  what  he  already  possesses  for 
a  just  and  generous  bearing  unto  any  other  man?  The 
highest  and  best  instance  of  brotherhood  and  social  service 
which  the  world  has  witnessed,  or  will  soon  witness,  is 
the  foreign  missionary  program  which  she  has  pursued  for 
centuries  before  we  had  even  discovered  our  like  problems 
at  home.  There  is  not  a  ligament  of  the  larger  minded 
modern  relations  of  men  that  did  not  grow  up  out  of  the 
gospel  she  has  urged  through  the  ages.  And  the  best 
ideals  and  the  best  language  of  men,  when  they  have  sup- 
posed that  they  have  cast  her  off,  and  have  gone  apart  in 
special  industrial  or  social  organizations  to  realize  their 
own  ends,  have  been  always  unconsciously  re-convertible 
into  the  very  speech  with  which  her  whole  history  has 
been  saturated,  and  into  the  very  ideals  with  which  her 
whole  career  has  been  crowned. 

In  a  newly  settled  and  exclusive  suburb  of  a  leading* 
Southern  city,  less  than  a  decage  ago,  there  was  no  church. 


MESSAGE  OP  THE  CHURCH  TO  INDUSTRY  47 

The  people  were  just  throwing  the  slopes  into  additions,  and 
seljing  the  additions  in  lots.  Concrete  walks  superseded 
gullies,  terraces  shouldered  away  the  ragged  hack  forests, 
and  houses  multiplied  as  in  fairyland.  These  things,  to- 
gether with  the  journeys  down-town  to  clip  their  coupons 
or  select  their  furniture,  consumed  the  neighborhood  inter- 
est for  five  years.  They  had  burnt  out  on  musicales,  lec- 
tures, and  theaters  before  having  moved  out  there.  The 
Sunday  newspaper;  little  formal,  tiresome  journeys  down 
to  the  city  churches,  which  however,  gradually  ceased;  a 
day  of  lounging,  mixed  with  some  interchange  of  aimless 
visits — ^these  wore  the  day  of  rest  and  religion  wearily 
away.  And  there  was  a  neighborhood  as  dumb,  awkward, 
and  miserable  as  any  backwoods-village  party,  when  the 
boys  and  girls  are  "on  the  jury,"  and  nobody  has  risen  to 
the  emergency  of  stirring  them  up. 

But  there  came  a  day  when  that  was  precisely  what 
took  place.  Something  happened  to  them  from  outside 
themselves.  One  of  these  denominations,  with  the  least 
possible  solicitation  from  the  citizens,  thrust  out  an  arm 
and  dropped  at  the  mouth  of  one  of  their  best  streets  an 
insignificant-looking  little  portable  church  building.  It  ap- 
peared piously  hopeless,  celestially  quixotic;  but  a  few  of 
the  children,  afterwards  some  youth  and  women,  then  strong 
men  and  everybody,  crowded  the  little  chapel  till  it  was 
doubled  in  size,  and  filled  again,  and  again  enlarged.  That 
was  not  five  years  ago.  To-day  they  have  a  handsome  build- 
ing enterprise,  a  vigorous,  enthusiastic  membership,  an  ag- 
gressive young  minister  specially  fitted  for  the  very  needs 
of  such  a  congregation.  The  old  Church  followed  them, 
overtook  them,  and,  re-discovering  them  to  themselves,  be- 
came to  them  what  they  most  needed. 

"City  of  God,  how  broad  and  far 
Outspread  thy  walls  sublime! 
The  true  thy  chartered  freemen  are. 
Of  every  age  and  clime. 

"How  purely  hath  thy  speech  come  down 
From  man's  primeval  youth! 
How  igrandly  hath  thine  empire  grown 
Of  freedom,  love,  and  truth!" 


48  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

II 

Of  Industry  also,  it  may  be  said  that  she  is  from  of 
old,  has  been  gifted  with  a  manifold  expression,  yet  has 
never  come  into  her  own.  The  spirit  of  toil  has  had  the 
whole  of  human  history  for  her  workshop,  and  for  her 
temple  the  four  walls  of  the  world. 

Of  Labor,  no  less  than  of  Religion,  might  the  seer  have 
said: 

"The  Lord  formed  me  in  the  beginning  of  his  way, 
Before  the  hills  was  I  brought  forth; 
While  as  yet  he  had  not  made  the  earth. 
Nor  the  fields, 
Nor  the  beginning  of  the  dust  of  the  world. 

,*  "When  he  established  the  heavens,  I  was  there; 

When  he  set  a  circle  upon  the  face  of  the  deep; 

When  he  made  firm  the  skies  above: 

When  the  fountains  of  the  deep  became  strong: 

When  he  gave  to  the  sea  its  bound, 

That  the  waters  should  not  transgress  his  commandment. 

"When  he  marked  out  the  foundations  of  the  earth. 
Then  I  was  by  him. 
As  a  master  workman 
— And  my  delight  was  with  the  sons  of  men." 

But  whilst  the  Church  has  kindled  the  altars  of  her 
superstition  Industry  has  clanked  the  chains  of  her  slavery. 
If  the  Church  has  Suffered  the  curse  of  priestcraft,  Industry 
has  bitten  the  dust  of  peonage.  And  as  the  Church  is 
seen  to-day,  coming  from  the  inside  of  the  world's  sacristy, 
casting  off  the  impeding  gown  of  her  excessive  individual- 
ism, to  enter  her  larger  service  and  to  claim  her  richer 
reward.  Industry  is  seen  coming  from  the  outside  and 
knocking  at  the  doors  of  the  world's  conscience  with  the 
petition  that  she  be  permitted  to  help  build  that  kingdom 
of  God  for  which  we  have  all  been,  after  some  fashion, 
praying.  And  with  that  petition  she  brings  along  the  just 
claim  that  while  the  workingman  of  America  is  now  re- 
ceiving an  average  daily  wage  of  a  dollar  and  a  half,  a  just 
division  of  the  increase  of  wealth  he  is  helping  to  produce 
in  this  country  year  by  year  would  yield  him  from  ten  to 


MESSAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  INDUSTRY  49 

twelve  dollars  per  day.  And  if  neither  God  nor  man  has 
any  use  for  a  church  which  does  not  serve  to  lift  and  gladden 
human  life,  what  shall  be  said  or  thought  of  these  modern 
temples  of  toil  with  their  smoking  altar-forges  of  human 
sacrifice?  What  difference,  though  their  smokestacks  are  a 
hundred  feet  high  and  we  call  them  factories?  Are  we, 
with  all  our  boasted  prosperity,  no  further  along  than  when 
John  Stuart  Mill,  a  century  ago,  reminded  us  that  all  the 
machinery  ever  invented  had  never  lifted  a  single  burden 
from  human  society?  Or  are  we  just  arriving  where  Gold- 
smith said  England  was  when  he  wrote  that  melancholy 
indictment  of  English  aristocracy — 

"111  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay?" 

Surely,  from  the  Adamic  doom,  be  it  evil  or  good,  that 
in  the  sweat  of  their  face  men  should  eat  bread.  Industry 
also  has  been  intended  by  a  God  that  wrought  the  world  to 
be  all  that  the  sons  and  the  daughters  of  men  should  need 
her  to  be.  And  Gerald  Stanley  Lee,  in  his  wonderful  book, 
"Crowds,"  is  right:  There  is  really  considerable  spiritual 
truth  in  having  enough  to  eat. 

Ill 

As  for  the  call  of  the  new  social  order,  why  not? 

Do  men  longer,  with  their  own  hands,  toss  wheat  up 
in  the  air,  that  the  wind  may  drive  the  chaff  from  it? 
Or  stampede  armies  by  pitchers  with  torches  in  them? 
Or  ride  to  Congress  horseback?  Or  weave  their  own  cot- 
tonade  trousers?  Has  there  not  been  a  process  of  combi- 
nation and  cooperation  in  trade,  production,  and  the  mak- 
ing of  money?  And  shall  life  be  made  social  in  production 
and  commerce,  but  not  in  distribution  and  human  service? 
Shall  legislatures  be  social-wise  in  the  way  of  getting  there, 
but  not  in  the  effect  of  getting  laws  that  make  life  reason- 
able and  decent?  Shall  banks,  biscuit  factories,  and  per- 
fume companies  be  social-minded  and  social-handed  in  clip- 
ping off  more  dividends,  turning  out  more  ovens,  filling  the 
earth  with  the  smell  of  their  prosperity,  whilst  bent  women 

4 


50  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

and  cowed  little  children  and  muttering,  unbrothered  men 
scowl  by,  shedding  the  murk  of  their  dim  lives  into  our 
windows?  Can  we  not  pass  each  other  in  the  streets  with- 
out knocking  the  skin  off  each  other  as  we  go  by?  Can 
this  nation  long  endure  half  social  and  half  savage? 

What  is  prosperity?  One  man  of  my  acquaintance  said 
a  year  ago  that  it  was  something  that  a  man  could  have  to 
share  with  another  man,  and  straightway  he  went  out  and 
took  a  corner  policeman  out  of  a  beating  cold  rain  and  put 
on  him  the  best  rubber  outfit  to  be  found. 

What  is  the  kingdom  of  God?  Jesus  said  it  was  that 
thing  that  happened  one  day  when  a  big  business  man  came 
down  out  of  his  high  place  in  a  sycamore  tree  and  with  a 
new  light  in  his  face  cried:  "I'll  give  half  my  fortune  to 
the  unfortunate;  and  if  I  have  taken  anything  from  any- 
body by  wrong  semi-annual  report  or  daily  advertisement, 
I'll  make  it  good  four  hundred  per  cent." 

If  Zaccheus  got  tangled  unto  the  jeopardy  of  his  soul 
in  the  simple  relations  of  his  small  day  in  that  obscure  land, 
how  shall  an  American  of  affairs  who  looks  not  to  his 
business  as  well  as  to  his  soul  escape? 

If  that  was  evidently  for  him  the  obstruction  to  the  com- 
ing kingdom,  which  his  conversion  or  salvation,  or  what- 
ever you  want  to  call  it,  had  to  take  away,  how  can  a 
Southern  business  man  be  indifferent  to  the  social  bearings 
of  his  business? 

And  if  he  found  the  reorganization  of  his  business  a 
great  joy.  and  took  the  Master  home  with  him  for  the  rich- 
est and  best  day  of  his  life,  why  do  not  our  sharp-hearted 
men  of  trade  get  his  secret  and  boost  his  method? 

But  to  take  the  Master  home  with  one  for  a  day  is  by 
no  means  enough.  It  is  a  beginning — yes,  the  beginning, 
but  only  the  beginning.  It  would  not  seem  at  all  like  God 
to  bring  this  all  down  to  a  mere  personal  affair  between  him 
and  Zaccheus,  or  even  to  a  simple  matter  between  Zaccheus 
and  the  tax-dodgers  or  real  estate  victims  or  day  laborers 
who  had  dealt  with  him  to  their  sorrow.  There  was  all 
Jericho,  and  Judea,  and  Perea,  and  Sicily,  and  Samoa,  and 
New  York,  and  Borneo,  and  Memphis,  and  Manchuria — and 
unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 


MESSAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  INDUSTRY  51 

When  shall  the  individualists  and  the  socialists,  the  aris- 
tocracies and  democracies,  the  capitalists  and  laborers,  stop, 
step  out  of  doors,  straighten  up  and  look  above  this  scuffle 
of  civilization  into  the  face  of  their  ultimate,  inextricable 
mutual  interests,  and  those  of  us  all?  Why  shall  we  not 
have  these  "bullies  of  wealth"  and  "bullies  of  poverty"  alike 
to  understand  that  they  and  all  of  us  have  infinitely  more 
in  common  than  we  or  they  can  possibly  find  to  divide  us  ? 

Let  Capital,  as  well  as  Labor,  comprehend  that  the  only 
trouble  with  the  hungry  and  discontented  is,  that  they  are 
not  hungry  and  discontented  enough,  that  they  are  only 
hungry  and  discontented  for  themselves.  What  we  want 
them  to  do  is  to  go  on  and  be  hungry  and  discontented  for 
all  the  members  of  their  class,  and  of  the  capital  classes, 
and  for  all  of  us. 

Let  Labor,  as  well  as  Capital,  comprehend  that  men  who 
sweat  at  their  shoulders  are  by  no  means  the  only  laboring 
men ;  that  big  brains,  great  grasp  of  wide  relations,  tracing 
crooked  lines  over  paper  for  days  and  years,  fighting  to 
keep  one's  faith  in  men,  and  to  go  on  with  the  big  enter- 
prises indispensable  to  the  common  welfare,  are  a  task 
which  would  put  most  so-called  workingmen  into  their  pre- 
mature graves.  These  capitalists  and  rich  people  enter- 
prise not  too  much,  win  not  too  much  wealth,  but  only  not 
enough.  If  they  would  only  go  on  and  enterprise  more  and 
grow  more  rich  for  themselves  and  their  class  and  ours, 
and  everybody's!  That  is  what  is  meant  by  being  social, 
and  that  is  what  we  are  coming  to. 

The  first  great  principle  in  this  common  larger  outlook 
is,  that  no  man  is  going  hereafter  to  be  taken  very  seriously 
as  a  competent  capitalist  or  leader  of  labor  who  is  merely 
thinking  of  his  own  interests  or  of  the  interests  of  his 
own  class. 

The  second  general  principle  which  we  are  coming  to 
see  is,  that  no  labor  leader  nor  business  leader  shall  be 
taken  seriously — that  is  to  say,  regarded  as  either  very 
dangerous  or  very  useful — who  believes  in  force.  People 
have  come  to  see  that  men  who  have  to  get  things  by 
force,  and  not  by  thinking  of  their  uses  and  relations,  will 


52  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

not  be  able  to  think  of  anything  to  do  with  the  things  when 
they  have  got  them.  These  things  we  have  learned  from 
the  present  owners  of  things ;  and  we  do  not  care  to  learn 
them  all  over  again  from  new  owners. 

It  is  a  grand  thing  to  think  that  men  are  coming  to 
think  vastly  more  of  the  right  relations  and  uses  of  things 
than  of  the  mere  possession  of  things.  Jane  Addams  as- 
serts that,  just  as  men  strove  in  the  days  immediately  suc- 
ceeding the  great  New  Testament  age  to  cast  their  new 
convictions  and  experiences  into  scholarly  and  logical 
formula  and  creed,  and  in  the  medieval  ages  to  express 
their  deepest  conceptions  and  feelings  in  physical  art  and 
architecture,  so  now  we  everywhere  discover  an  effort  to 
conceive  and  regard  men  in  their  right  relations  to  one 
another,  and  to  their  place  and  work  in  the  world. 

IV 

What,  then,  is  the  message  of  the  Church,  the  whole 
Church,  the  simple,  social-hearted  Church,  the  old,  great- 
souled  Church  to  men  of  modern  industry,  whether  in  the 
national  banks  or  on  the  oyster  banks,  whether  hatching 
novels  or  thatching  hovels,  whether  sweating  outwardly 
with  toil  or  bleeding  inwardly  with  care,  whether  suffering 
from  their  own  or  others'  injustice  or  waiting  wistfully  for 
the  consolation  of  all  ? 

It  is  the  message  of  a  mother  to  her  children :  Do  you 
talk  of  justice,  my  children?  Of  brotherhood,  and  the  up- 
lifting of  all  together?  These  have  been  the  foundations 
of  my  house  from  Sinai  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount;  the 
vines  at  my  window,  from  Rome  and  Geneva  and  Plymouth 
Rock;  the  tears  of  my  nights  and  the  inspiration  of  my 
days,  from  the  Bartholomew  massacres  to  the  Wesleyan  re- 
vivals, from  the  Reformation  in  Europe  to  your  wonderful 
missions  in  Africa,  schools  in  the  Orient,  industries  every- 
where. 

The  ancient  law,  "An  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth,"  seems  harsh  and  disgraceful  to  you?  You  should 
have  been  back  there  with  me,  my  sons.  That  law  was 
one  of  the  longest  strides  of  justice  I  ever  induced  my 


MESSAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  INDUSTRY  53 

family  to  take.  Before  that  time  and  all  around  us  it  was 
kHl,  raze,  burn,  obliterate  in  retaliation  for  the  smallest  of- 
fenses, and  often  when  there  had  been  no  offense  whatever. 
O  it  was  a  world  of  hurt  and  bleed,  kill  and  damn ;  and  well 
do  I  remember  the  load  that  fell  from  my  heart  when  T 
got  one  branch  of  our  house  to  agree  to  stop  with  what 
seems  to  you  now  a  bitter  barbarism.  Do  you  remind  me 
of  abominable  sacrifices,  priestly  infidelity,  fool-hearted 
dogma,  pious  pretense,  of  modern  ecclesiasticism  and  dead 
professions  ?  They  who  practice  these  things,  my  sons,  are 
my  selfish,  spoiled,  pouting  children,  and  your  backward, 
absurd  little  brothers.  Be  patient,  and  trust  them  to  me. 
They  are  indeed  often  worse  prodigals  than  the  prodigal, 
even  as  your  Elder  Brother  told  you ;  for  the  prodigal  was 
spendthrift  with  money  and  wayward  in  passion,  but  these 
are  reckless  with  justice,  and  snobs  in  their  merciful 
Father's  house.  They  have  been,  indeed,  farther  from  the 
old  home  than  any  prodigal.  But  you  are  young,  my  chil- 
dren, and  I  am  old.  In  the  very  household  talk,  the  songs 
of  the  old  inner  courts,  which  they  think  they  monopolize, 
are  the  ancient,  heart-searching  good  tidings  imbedded, 
with  all  that  you  are  saying  of  human  justice  and  brother- 
hood. And  they  themselves  cannot  always  miss  it.  They 
may  be  your  little  brothers,  but  they  are  your  brothers, 
surely,  as  well  as  these  of  the  factories  and  streets.  Be 
patient.     Trust  them  to  me. 

I  must  hasten,  children.  Two  notes  my  message  must 
have,  and  you  must  not  forget:  One  is  COME;  the  other 
is  GO. 

One  of  my  pastors  in  a  certain  town,  on  a  blazing  after- 
noon, called  on  a  certain  human  mother,  who  lived  in  a 
rosy  cottage  upon  a  clean  slope.  Their  talk  was  of  the 
blazing  sun,  of  the  little  sleepy  town,  of  the  Church  (that  is. 
Myself) ,  and  of  her  handsome,  rich,  famous  young  son  down 
in  the  village,  who  had  bought  her  the  house,  with  its  furni- 
ture and  all  that  made  so  winsome  the  well-beseeming  place. 
But  in  the  end  of  the  visit,  coming  around  to  the  topic  of 
her  son,  from  which  she  could  never  long  refrain,  the  tears 
fell  as  she  poured  out  to  the  pastor  her  sorrow  when  she 


54  BATTLING  FOR  SOCUL  BETTERMENT 

had  recently  sent  requesting  her  son  to  come  to  see  her, 
and  he  had  replied  by  sending  her  a  ten-dollar  bill !  There 
is  the  point,  my  beloved  sons.  It  is  not  your  dollars — it  is 
yourselves  I  call  for.  The  Church  does  not,  in  the  first 
place,  need  money  to  make  her  happy  or  great;  does  not 
crave  half -million-dollar  temples  to  seat  less  than  a  half  thou- 
sand pious  pets.  But  you  must  not  leave  me  for  these  things, 
my  children.  You  must  the  more  come.  You  must  come! 
I  need  you  for  them.  They  are  in  your  big  brotherhood  also. 
I  need  you  for  the  honor  of  our  ancient  house,  and  for  the 
hope  of  our  new  and  ever-widening  program.  You  will  not, 
when  you  understand,  send  me  a  contribution  and  remain 
absent  yourselves.  You  will  come  to  me,  O  my  sons,  and 
we  will  sit  in  the  old  seats  and  sing  the  old  songs  and  kindle 
the  old  memories  and  feed  the  old  purposes  awhile. 

Awhile !  There  is  the  word,  my  men.  Not  to  loaf  around 
the  throne,  when  there  is  work  to  do  yonder  in  the  world. 
Not  to  whine  and  chant  around  these  perfumed  altars, 
when  the  ways  of  men  are  foul  with  injustice  and  choked 
with  wrongs.  Not  to  pray  and  preach  the  doing  of  the 
Father's  will,  when  we  have  risked  nothing  and  done  noth- 
ing to  see  to  it  that  that  will  is  done. 

"Not  in  utter  helplessness 

We  lift  our  hands  on  high; 
Not  as  the  nerveless  fatalist, 

Content  to  trust  and  die; 
Our  faith  springs  as  the  eagle's. 

That  soars  to  meet  the  sun; 
And  cries  exulting  unto  Thee, 

O  Lord,  thy  will  be  done! 

"Thy  will,  it  bids  the  weak  be  strong; 

It  bids  the  strong  be  just; 
No  lip  to  fawn,  no  hand  to  crave, 

No  brow  to  seek  the  dust! 
Wherever  man  oppresses  man, 

Beneath  Thy  liberal  sun, 
O  Lord,  be  there.  Thine  arm  make  bare. 

Thy  righteous  will  be  done." 

No,  my  men  of  the  world's  work — all  of  it!  I  say  to  you, 
GO.    Come  by  to  see  your  mother.    And  go  out  into  all  the 


MISSION  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  CITY  LIFE  55 

fields,  fraternities,  shops,  unions,  parties,  and  departments 
of  the  world's  whole,  big  life,  and  there  honor  the  good  name 
and  fame  and  principles  of  the  old  house. 

We  could  never  envy  any  success  that  may  anywhere 
come  to  you.  It  is  already  ours  when  it  becomes  yours.  We 
could  never  be  willing  to  be  an  obstruction,  say  nothing  of 
an  interference,  with  any  work  of  justice,  brotherhood,  or 
service  in  which  you  are  in  any  way  engaged.  Why  should 
we?  I  am  the  mother.  All  your  work  is  religious  and 
sacred.  Go  and  serve  and  win.  Deep-hearted  men  have 
called  me  the  bride  of  the  world's  Great  Brother.  And  they 
name  me  well.  And  I  say  to  you,  it  gives  us  great  pleasure, 
both  him  and  me,  to  have  you  both  to  COME  and  to  GO. 


THE   SOCIAL   MISSION   OF   THE    CHURCH   TO 
CITY  LIFE 

RABBI  EMANUEL  STERNHEIM,  GREENVILLE,  MISS. 

True  religion  insists  on  human  service,  and  this  is  the 
end  toward  which  the  real  development  of  religion  should 
be  in  the  present  suborned.  One  of  the  signs  of  the  times 
is  a  new  consciousness  of  other's  needs.  All  men  agree  that 
there  are  rights  which  have  not  been  recognized  and  duties 
which  have  not  been  performed.  The  desire  to  serve  is 
forcing  men  to  new  and  sometimes  to  strange  activities, 
but  nevertheless  the  desire  to  determine  the  relation  of  the 
individual  to  the  community  is  a  universal  one. 

Busy  with  our  trade,  and  surrounded  with  the  signs  of 
wealth,  we,  like  Jacob,  have  been  met  by  the  angel  of  our 
forgotten  brother.  It  is  of  the  struggle  of  this  angel,  in  the 
concerted  effort  to  find  what  we  must  do  for  other's  needs, 
that  shall  make  of  us  princes  of  God,  and  enable  us  to  re- 
member that  "the  rich  and  poor  meet  together;  the  Lord 
is  the  maker  of  them  all." 

I  cannot  touch  the  manifold  efforts  of  modem  care  for 
others'  needs — the  passionate  stroke  of  the  reformer,  the 


56  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

gentle  touch  of  the  comforter — and  show  the  unity  of  their 
variety. 

I  fear  I  cannot  catch  the  voice  of  the  twentieth  century 
and  repeat  it  as  the  latest  word  of  God.  But  I  do  believe  in 
his  presence  guiding  us  all  unto  truth,  and  I  bow  in  rever- 
ence before  the  spirit  of  the  age,  which  is,  I  believe,  social- 
ized religion. 

The  social  worker  is  everywhere  at  this  time  being  con- 
gratulated upon  the  increasing  interest  taken  in  social  ques- 
tions. I  am  glad,  because  the  interest  reveals  the  existence 
of  a  love  which  is  stronger  than  mere  class.  The  spirit  of 
the  age  reveals  the  fact  that  love  is  not  dead,  even  in  breasts 
hardened  by  success  and  luxury  and  fashion. 

I  am  glad  of  the  interest  which  proves  the  existence  of 
human  love,  which  is  man's  guide  to  God,  and  which  the 
modern  Church  is  interpreting  as  its  cardinal  message  to 
contemporary  civilization,  in  almost  every  land  and  clime, 
and  more  especially  in  England,  Germany,  and  the  United 
States. 

I  am  nevertheless  anxious.  A  great  Christian  divine  has 
said:  "There  is  such  a  thing  as  taking  the  sacrament  un- 
worthily." 

Are  there  not  those  who  enter  the  service  of  the  people 
who  are  unfit,  by  reason  of  their  own  imperfect  self-develop- 
ment, to  handle  the  most  sacred  things  of  life,  their  broth- 
ers' souls? 

Society  enters  to  serve  the  poor,  and  as  it  talks  of  its 
care  for  the  poor  over  its  wasteful  dinner  tables  it  eats  and 
drinks  to  its  own  damnation. 

The  many  who  listen  eagerly  to  tales  of  suffering  go  out 
and  serve,  but  instead  of  finding  "life"  by  giving  themselves 
as  comforters  they  find  "death"  by  wearing  out  their  best 
emotions. 

I  fear  lest  such  interest  end  in  apathy;  lest  they  who 
began  by  caring  end  in  callousness,  or  lest  by  some  hurried 
giving  of  a  dole,  or  some  pretentious  service,  they  satisfy 
their  conscience  or  their  pride.  The  blind  groping  after 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  which  is  socialized  religion,  seems  to 
be  manifesting  itself  too  freely  in  various  and  devious  forms 


MISSION  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  CITY  LIFE  57 

of  unconsecrated  service,  and  this  is  especially  true  in  the 
city ;  so  it  seems  to  me  that  the  primary  duty  of  the  Church 
to  city  life  is  the  training  of  consecrated  men  and  women, 
whole-heartedly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  "the 
rich  and  poor  meet  together;  the  Lord  is  the  maker  of 
them  all,"  and  with  a  sufficient  technical  training  in  the 
principles  of  modern  philanthropy  to  give  their  idealism 
fitting  and  proper  expression. 

In  a  striking  and  remarkable  book,  "The  Two  Great 
Republics,  Rome  and  the  United  States,"  Professor  James 
Hamilton  Lewis  enforces  an  eloquent  plea  for  an  Ameri- 
can Renaissance  by  an  analogy  between  American  civili- 
zation and  the  condition  of  Roman  civilization  immediately 
preceding  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  Empire ;  and  this  plea 
for  a  renaissance  is  but  another  expression  of  the  Zeitgeist, 
a  realization  of  the  fact  that  "man  cannot  live  by  bread 
alone." 

And  here  again  the  mission  of  the  Church  to  city  life  is 
made  m.anifest :  to  teach  society  that  knowledge,  ideas,  books, 
art,  friends,  and  joy  are  the  things  which  make  our  lives; 
the  higher  pleasures  we  owe  to  others'  friendship.  These 
are  the  things  we  must  share  with  our  brothers,  as  others 
have  shared  them  with  us. 

That  modern  philanthropy  is  a  wider  thing  than  the 
giving  of  doles  must  be  pre-eminently  the  message  of  social- 
ized religion. 

Because  so  much  has  been  done  for  people  and  so  little 
with  people,  there  is  the  idea  that  the  Church  has  been 
negligent  of  its  highest  interests.  The  mission  of  the 
Church  is  to  teach  that,  in  the  science  of  social  service,  the 
rule  must  be  to  serve  with  the  people. 

I  propose  to  devote  myself  to  two  or  three  specific  duties 
of  the  Church  about  which  there  is  usually  some  dispute. 

The  first  claim  I  make  is,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Church  to  enter  into  the  work  of  municipal  government. 
There  are  arguments  pro  and  con  about  this,  but  it  seems 
to  me  to  be  axiomatic  that  the  minister  is  a  citizen  and  a 
man  before  he  is  a  parson  and  he  cannot  be  refused  the 
rights  of  a  citizen ;  but  I  am  not  keen  on  pressing  the  point. 


58  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

for  my  argument  is  to  be  that  it  is  a  comparatively  unim- 
portant thing  whether  the  minister  sits  on  the  municipal 
board  or  not,  but  it  is  an  essential  to  righteous  city  govern- 
ment that  the  united  voices  of  the  churches  of  the  city  shall 
speak  through  its  personnel  the  demand  for  a  godly  and 
God-fearing  administration. 

Thank  God,  the  Church  is  not  the  only  school  of  political 
administrative  morality;  but  there  is  not  an  iota  of  doubt 
that  it  is  one  of  the  most  important. 

Professor  Henderson,  of  Chicago,  puts  this  point  ad- 
mirably when  he  says  that  "every  church  in  a  city  should 
set  apart,  consecrate,  dedicate  certain  of  its  members  to  the 
ministry  of  political  action,  men  of  good  sound  sense,  energy, 
public  spirit,  business  and  legal  training,  acquaintance  with 
men  of  affairs."  I  indorse  this  suggestion  of  Professor 
Henderson  and  suggest  that  these  men  should  have  had 
previous  training  upon  the  lines  already  suggested  in  this 
address. 

When  one  pauses  to  think  of  the  tremendous  influence 
of  municipal  government  upon  the  morality  and  character 
of  the  citizens  of  a  city,  one  can  readily  foresee  the  inesti- 
mable value  of  the  cooperation  of  these  men  trained  in  the 
highest  ideals  of  the  social  application  of  their  religious 
convictions.  A  superficial  objection  will  undoubtedly  be  the 
fear  of  infusion  of  sectarian  differences.  I  am  utterly  un- 
able to  sympathize  with  the  objection,  for  the  very  basis  of 
socialized  religion  is  the  subordination  of  dogma  before  the 
ideal  of  universal  human  service. 

Anticipating  much  the  same  objection  and  giving  to  it 
much  the  same  reply,  I  am  going  to  be  sufficiently  contro- 
versial to  advocate  the  extension  of  the  duty  of  the  church 
to  the  domain  of  education.  With  a  very  complete  and  long 
experience  of  the  evils  of  the  infusion  of  religious  differ- 
ences into  education,  I  am  nevertheless  anxious  about  the 
growth  of  a  paramount  utilitarian  and  materialistic  educa- 
tional system. 

With  Professor  Lewis  already  quoted,  I  am  pleading 
now  for  an  aesthetic  outlook,  for  an  intellectual  renaissance, 
and  not  for  any  dogmatic  religious  expression.    It  may  well 


MISSION  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  CITY  LIFE  59 

be  that  the  Church  cannot  as  an  organization  wisely  attempt 
tor  interfere  in  school  management,  but  it  may  be  sympa- 
thetic and  may  voice  that  broad  and  enlightened  concep- 
tion of  education  that  sees  in  it  great  possibilities  for  re- 
demption and  achievement. 

By  virtue  of  the  position  of  the  Church  in  regard  to 
guidance,  it  should  so  cooperate  with  every  educational 
effort  in  the  city  that  every  teacher  in  the  city  may  thank 
God  and  take  courage. 

The  last  point  with  which  I  shall  deal  is  the  duty  of  the 
Church  with  regard  to  recreation.  Here  again  the  cardinal 
principle  already  accentuated,  that  the  duty  of  the  Church 
is  to  do  with  and  not  for  the  people,  needs  to  be  reiterated. 
The  function  of  the  Church  is  not  limited  to  criticism  of 
the  positively  harmful  in  the  recreational  opportunities 
afforded  the  inhabitants  of  its  city.  The  axiomatic  truth 
that  it  is  easier  to  criticize  than  to  construct  holds  good 
here  in  very  large  measure,  for  I  fear  that  the  Church  has 
been  too  prone  to  confine  itself  to  criticism  in  this  sphere 
especially. 

What  I  am  advocating  here,  however,  is  not  so  much  the 
erection  of  the  institutional  church  to  which,  of  course, 
there  can  be  no  objection  in  the  light  of  the  principles 
enunciated  in  this  address,  but  rather  a  conception  of  the 
duty  of  the  Church  in  the  fostering  and  the  encouragement 
of  every  possible  form  of  clean  and  wholesome  amusement 
within  the  city  limits.  Perhaps  there  is  no  greater  author- 
ity on  this  aspect  of  socialized  religion  than  the  late  Canon 
S.  A.  Barnett,  of  London,  England,  for  many  years  the 
presiding  genius  of  the  prototype  of  the  social  settlement, 
the  concrete  expression  of  the  Zeitgeist.  He  says:  "Some- 
how Sunday  must  be  rescued  from  its  present  degrada- 
tion, saved  from  being  a  day  of  sleep  and  of  eating  and 
drinking,  to  become  a  day  of  learning,  enjoyment,  and 
rest.  Somehow  the  people  must  be  brought  within  a  refining 
influence,  such  as  that  which  comes  from  knowledge  of  the 
best  things  within  men's  reach."  Hear  him  again  on  the 
art  exhibition:  "The  admiration  of  beautiful  things  will 
not,  we  know,  keep  men  from  being  selfish  and  sensual; 


60  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

neither  is  there  any  other  nostrum  which,  by  itself,  will  cure 
evil.  The  sight  of  pictures  and  works  of  art  makes  them 
conscious  both  of  power  and  capacity,  and  does  something 
to  bring  them  nearer  eternal  life."  Finally,  relative  to  the 
point  that  I  am  endeavoring  to  emphasize:  "Service  by 
doing  rather  than  service  by  giving  is  the  true  ideal,  but 
service  by  giving  has  also  its  place  so  long  as  it  is  properly 
subordinated." 

Poverty,  it  must  be  recognized,  cannot  afford  the  pleas- 
ures which  human  nature  demands.  A  poor  neighborhood 
cannot  support  high-class  amusements.  The  best  has  al- 
ways to  be  given  away,  and  if  poverty  is  to  enjoy  pleasure, 
then  means  for  giving  it  must  be  discovered.  Here  pre- 
eminently is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  the  city  clearly  dis- 
tinguishable. The  advocates  of  pleasure  for  the  people  can- 
not find  in  the  modern  church,  even  yet,  the  material  gen- 
erosity of  those  who  advocate  the  gospel.  It  will  not  be 
until  the  gift  of  pleasure  is  seen  to  be  required  by  God 
that  rich  men  will  set  with  earnest  purpose  to  the  work  of 
making  gladder  the  lives  of  the  very  poor. 

Finally,  it  must  be  the  conception  of  the  Church  that  it 
is  its  function  to  stand  for  every  effort  to  beautify  the  city. 
In  the  simple  yet  majestic  words  of  Browning, 

"If  you  get  simple  beauty  and  naught  else, 
You  get  about  the  best  thing  God  invents." 

In  an  ideal  city  all  these  things  will  be.  The  mission  of 
the  Church  to  the  city  is  to  make  it  ideal,  and  therefore  all 
these  things  must  be.  In  an  ideal  city  none  will  be  very 
rich  and  none  will  be  very  poor;  knowledge  and  good  will 
will  join  together  to  give  to  every  child  the  best  education; 
to  render  every  house  and  street  as  healthy  as  the  healthiest 
hillside  in  the  world;  to  provide  the  most  comfortable  hos- 
pital for  every  one  who  is  sick  and  to  have  at  hand  a  friend 
for  every  one  in  trouble. 

In  our  ideal  city  art  will  grow  out  of  common  life,  un- 
disturbed by  contrasts  of  wealth  and  poverty.  The  people 
will  have  pleasure  in  their  work  and  leisure  to  admire  what 
is  beautiful. 


THE  WORKINGMAN  AND  THE  CHURCH  61 

In  some  such  ways  as  these  it  seems  to  me  that  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Church  to  city  life  is  to  give  practical  expression 
to  the  viewpoint  expressed  by  Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke  in  his 
soul-inspiring  and  beautiful  book  on  "The  Spirit  of  Amer- 
ica" when  he  says :  "If  there  is  to  be  an  American  aristoc- 
racy, it  shall  not  be  composed  of  the  rich,  nor  of  those 
whose  only  pride  is  in  their  ancient  name,  but  of  those  who 
have  done  most  to  keep  the  spirit  of  America  awake  and 
eager  to  solve  the  problems  of  the  common  order,  of  those 
who  have  spoken  to  her  most  clearly  and  steadily  by  words 
and  deeds,  reminding  her  that 

"By  the  soul 
Only,  the  nation  shall  be  great  and  free." 

This  is  the  message  of  socialized  religion.  Midst  the  stress 
and  ceaseless  strife  of  modern  life  the  Zeitgeist  is  yet  the 
still  small  voice,  but  it  is  the  still  small  voice  that  bids 

"Men  hope, 
And  see  their  hope  frustrate  and  grieve  awhile 
And  hope  anew." 


THE  WORKINGMAN  AND  THE  CHURCH 

A.   M.  BRUNER,  CHICAGO 
I.   THE  FIELD 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  a  force,  not  a  field.  The  field 
is  the  world,  and  Jesus  said,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  The  field,  therefore, 
assuredly  includes  the  industrial  class.  There  are  approxi- 
mately 20,000,000  men  and  boys  between  the  ages  of  six- 
teen and  sixty-nine  regularly  employed  in  the  shops,  fac- 
tories, mills,  mines,  lumber  and  construction  camps,  and 
en  the  railroads  and  farms  in  America.  This  takes  no  ac- 
count of  the  3,000,000  women  and  children  in  industry. 
There  are  in  America  40,000  industries  employing  from 


62  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTTERMENT 

25  to  10,000  men  daily.  There  are  221,000  Protestant 
churches  with  178,000  clergy  and  21,974,315  members  in 
America  with  only  forty  per  cent  attending  church  services 
regularly.  There  are  645  city  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociations with  304  railroad  and  industrial  departments. 
There  are  34,796,077  non-churchmembers,  ten  years  of  age 
and  over,  in  America,  fifty  per  cent  of  whom  are  industrial 
workers,  or  17,398,038  not  being  reached  by  the  Church 
in  any  effective  manner.  These  facts  alone  are  sufficient 
to  make  leaders  in  industry  and  leaders  in  religion  think ! 

II.  THE   MOVEMENT 

Community  extension,  the  "Sixth  Message"  of  the  Men 
and  Religion  Movement,  is  the  entering  wedge  of  the  gos- 
pel to  the  unreached,  unchurched  masses,  carried  to  all 
places  not  erected  for  social,  literary,  or  religious  pur- 
poses, such  as  shops,  factories,  railroad  yards,  car  bams, 
engine  houses,  police  stations,  parks,  summer  resorts,  board- 
ing houses,  office  buildings,  hotel  lobbies,  etc. ;  and  embraces 
Bible  study,  social  service,  personal  evangelism,  and  mis- 
sions. It  is  an  inter-church  enterprise  intended  to  develop 
morality  and  strengthen  men,  to  induce  frugality  and  real 
brotherliness,  to  give  a  clear,  ringing  message  of  the  news 
of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ  to  the  industrial  class, 
socially,  morally,  and  spiritually,  right  where  they  are. 

The  Church,  at  the  present  time,  is  reaching  less  than 
one-fourth  of  the  industrial  class.  Socialism,  the  growth 
of  which  in  a  single  decade  was  seventy-five  per  cent,  is 
making  rapid  advancement  among  them.  Unless  the 
Church,  therefore,  speedily  and  unitedly  enters  this  wide- 
open  field,  the  opportunity  will  be  lost  to  the  present  gen- 
eration. 

III.  THE  CONDITION 

Mental  attitude  influences  physical  state.  A  gloomy 
spirit  in  the  shop,  together  with  the  presence  of  toxic  gases, 
tends  to  intemperance,  immorality,  and  discouragement, 
even  to  Christian  workingmen ;  religion  gives  courage,  hope, 
and  cheer — even  in  the  midst  of  an  adverse  atmosphere. 
The  weekly  shop  meeting,  followed  by  Bible  classes,  social 


THE  WORKINGMAN  AND  THE  CHURCH  63 

gatherings,  and  cottage  prayer  meetings  in  the  homes,  not 
only  strengthens  the  men,  but  bridges  the  chasm  that  un- 
fortunately exists  between  the  Church  and  shop  to-day; 
and  the  Church  must  go  all  the  way  to  bring  about  that 
end.  It  has  been  said  that  "if  the  rich  and  poor  ever  meet 
together  for  common  prayer,  it  must  be  upon  the  territory 
of  the  poor;  and  if  the  Church  and  shop  are  ever  to  meet 
on  common  ground,  it  must  be  upon  the  territory  of  the 
workingman." 

IV.   THE   SCOPE 

Community  extension  includes  not  only  industrial  com- 
munities, but  also  rural  districts  where  the  country  church 
is  gradually  disappearing  from  the  map.  It  was  community 
extension  by  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth  that  won  the  heart 
of  Simon  the  fisherman,  causing  him  to  leave  his  nets  to 
become  a  fisher  of  men ;  for  hearing  the  voice  of  the  Master 
Workman  one  day,  by  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  he  became  the 
mightiest  preacher  of  his  age. 

V.   THE   SYSTEM 

1.  A  strong  Central  Extension  Committee,  composed  of 
five  lajnnen  and  two  ministers,  to  direct  extension  activity 
in  the  city  and  surrounding  country. 

2.  A  leader  appointed  and  held  responsible  for  each 
plant  operated. 

3.  A  Shop  Committee  of  three  elected  in  each  plant. 

4.  Additional  points  opened  up  with  shop  committees  as 
rapidly  as  possible. 

5.  Monthly  meetings  of  the  Central  Committee,  with 
shop  committees  and  leaders,  for  conference  and  prayer. 

6.  A  Bible  class  organized  to  train  men  for  lay  evan- 
gelism in  connection  with  extension. 

7.  The  Bible  to  be  the  basis  of  every  permanent  com- 
munity extension  undertaking.  A  plan  of  studies  or  ad- 
dresses to  be  arranged  that  speakers  may  intelligently  pre- 
pare for  extension  work. 

8.  An  Annual  Community  Extension  Day  in  the  church- 
es, when  the  story  of  extension  will  be  told  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  service  presented. 


64  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

9.  A  commission  appointed  by  the  Central  Committee, 
to  make  a  survey  of  the  surrounding  country  within  a  radius 
of  thirty  miles,  to  determine  what  steps  are  necessary  to 
reach  outlying  points  by  the  extension  system. 

VI.   THE  OUTLOOK 

The  clock  has  struck  the  hour  to  advance  and  the  lay- 
man has  come,  at  last,  to  his  own.  First  principles  are  be- 
ing observed  and  a  field  of  activity  is  being  opened  up  that 
will  challenge  the  Christian  layman  to  his  best  and  turn 
the  thoughts  of  men  to  the  early  days  of  the  Church  when 
"they  that  were  scattered  abroad  went  everywhere  preach- 
ing the  word." 

We  are  well  within  the  greatest  century  the  world  has 
ever  known.  Let  us  advance  with  confidence,  courage,  and 
song,  for 

"The  morning  breaks;  the  shadows  flee; 
Christ's  kingdom  comes  o'er  land  and  sea; 
The  rule  of  love,  the  reign  of  good, 
The  whole  round  world  one  brotherhood." 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  AS  AN  AGENCY  FOR  SOCIAL 

SERVICE 

ANDREW  J.  BETHEA,  COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

John  Ruskin,  great  alike  as  social  reformer  and  prose 
painter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  while  deprecating  in  his 
"Sesame  and  Lilies"  the  failure  of  the  Church  of  England 
to  embrace  a  helpful  social  service  speaks  boldly  and  di- 
rectly :  "You  had  better  get  rid  of  the  smoke  and  the  organ 
pipes,  both;  leave  them  and  the  Gothic  windows,  and  the 
painted  glass,  to  the  property  man ;  give  up  your  carburetted 
hydrogen  ghost  in  one  healthy  expiration,  and  look  after 
Lazarus  at  the  doorstep.  For  there  is  a  true  Church  wher- 
ever one  hand  meets  another  helpfully,  and  that  is  the  only 
holy  or  mother  Church  which  ever  was,  or  ever  shall  be." 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIAL  SERVICE  65 

If  in  the  discussion  of  the  subject  assigned  me  I  should 
seem  to  deplore  the  failure  of  the  Sunday  school  to  exercise 
its  full  power  and  privilege  in  this  age  as  a  social  agent,  I 
trust  no  one  will  charge  me  with  heresy  or  disloyalty  to 
an  institution  which  is  the  strong  arm  of  the  Church  and 
which  has  made  contributions  to  society  more  precious  than 
human  tongue  can  tell. 

The  Sunday  school  is  a  moral  and  spiritual  force  which 
builds  up  the  moral  fiber  of  community  life.  It  implants 
the  seed  of  truth  and  righteousness  in  the  hearts  of  the 
young,  molds  boys  and  girls  into  citizens  with  a  purpose 
and  an  ideal,  and  gives  to  society  a  noble  and  beautiful 
character.  It  is  one  of  those  priceless  things,  silent  and 
irresistible  in  their  influence,  which  seem  to  lose  their  value 
in  proportion  to  the  constancy  with  which  they  serve — true 
alike  of  the  sunshine  that  gives  us  light,  of  the  breath  we 
breathe,  and  of  the  gentle  rain. 

I  am  to  speak  of  the  Sunday  school  as  an  agent  of  mod- 
ernized efficiency  in  an  age  of  unprecedented  need  and  op- 
portunity for  social  service.  Propitious  is  then  the  time, 
for  the  world  is  waking  up  to  a  new  ideal  in  religion,  just 
as  it  has  awakened  to  a  new  ideal  in  education,  in  politics, 
in  government.  For  two  thousand  years  religion  has  been 
largely  a  personal  matter,  but  as  the  light  of  the  twentieth 
century  breaks  upon  us  and  we  catch  a  new  vision  upon  the 
broadening  horizon  of  duty  and  opportunity  we  begin  to 
see  and  to  understand  that  the  community  has  a  soul.  We 
are  coming  into  an  appreciation  of  the  life  of  the  great 
Teacher  of  mankind,  who  taught  personal  purity  to  be 
sure,  but  also  "went  about  doing  good,"  setting  up  social 
justice,  relieving  human  suffering,  and  correcting  human 
wrongs.  Jesus  Christ  was  the  first  great  social  worker, 
and  it  is  his  example  of  unselfish  social  service  to  mankind 
that  the  Sunday  school  and  other  religious  institutions  must 
follow  if  they  would  fulfill  their  highest  mission.  It  is  this 
aspect  of  the  Sunday  school  as  an  agency  for  social  service 
in  the  community  that  we  wish  now  to  consider. 

Fortunate  am  I  in  speaking  of  the  Sunday  school  to  be 
able  to  point  to  the  fact  that  the  social  program  is  dis- 
6 


66  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

tinctively  Christian  in  origin.  The  humanitarian  move- 
ments of  the  time,  the  great  moral  forces  of  modern  life, 
such  as  the  Red  Cross,  prison  reform,  social  settlement, 
associated  charities,  prohibition,  international  peace,  and 
this  great  Congress  itself,  which  are  doing  their  work  in- 
dependently of  the  Church,  had  their  origin  in  the  social 
program  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Strengthened  and  justified  then  by  a  rich  inheritance, 
why  has  the  Sunday  school,  and  therefore  the  Church, 
failed  to  carry  out  the  social  program  of  the  Master — ^the 
greatest  social  worker  and  teacher  of  all  time?  Why  has 
it  neglected  to  render  a  service,  the  imperative  demand  for 
which  is  evidenced  in  the  humanitarian  movements,  of 
which  mention  has  just  been  made?  The  answer,  I  think, 
is  found  in  this :  That  the  Sunday  school,  like  the  Church, 
has  been  content  to  teach  spiritual  truths  designed  to  purify 
the  individual  life,  believing  that  this  work  of  regeneration 
would  cure  all  social  ills.  There  can  be  no  criticism  for  its 
zeal  in  this  direction,  for  it  must  continue  to  teach  these 
essential  things;  but  it  must  also  embrace  the  social  pro- 
gram projected  by  Jesus  Christ,  by  rendering  a  large  and 
helpful  service  to  the  community  which  gives  it  life. 

This  service  can  and  will  take  form  in  many  directions 
because  there  are  many  fields  of  social  service  that  the  Sun- 
day school  can  with  propriety  enter.  Ignorance,  pauperism, 
disease,  intemperance,  and  the  like  are  things  we  find  in 
every  community  that  need  relief  or  correction.  It  dignifies 
the  Sunday  school  and  gives  to  it  power  and  influence,  if  it 
makes  itself  an  agency  for  the  common  good.  And  I  am 
free  to  say  that  it  has  not  done  all  that  it  might  have  done ; 
it  has  failed  in  its  duty  as  an  active  agency  for  the  uplift 
and  betterment  of  all  the  people  within  the  scope  of  its  in- 
fluence; it  has  not  embraced  a  great  opportunity  for  social 
service,  if  it  does  not  come  to  the  aid  of  these  things. 

It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the  Sunday  school  as  any  other 
institution  or  agency  to  help  to  displace  ignorance  with 
light,  pauperism  with  comfort,  disease  with  health,  intem- 
perance with  sobriety,  and  indolence  with  industry  and 
life. 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIAL  SERVICE  67 

It  was  Emerson,  I  believe,  who  said,  "What  you  are 
speaks  so  loud  I  cannot  hear  what  you  say;"  and  another 
in  homely  phrase  has  told  us  that  "hungry  men  cannot  hear 
the  gospel."  The  duty  of  doing,  to  be  living  examples  of 
the  truth,  is  the  clarion  call  that  comes  to  all  religious  in- 
stitutions to-day,  and  by  this  test  of  efficiency  they  must 
survive  or  perish;  for  never  before  have  the  words  of  the 
Master  carried  such  dynamic  power:  "Not  every  one  that 
saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  .  .  .  but  he  that  doeth  the 
will." 

In  the  United  States  alone  there  are  154,281  Sunday 
schools,  1,520,379  Sunday  school  teachers,  and  13,732,841 
pupils  in  Sunday  school.  What  a  mighty  power  for  posi- 
tive good  these  can  be  made!  What  an  army  of  social 
workers,  uniformed  and  armed  and  drilled!  How  large 
and  helpful  the  service  to  their  country  and  how  great  the 
victory  of  this  invincible  host  against  the  citadels  of  dis- 
ease, darkness,  and  death,  with  health,  happiness,  human 
justice,  and  hope  set  up  in  their  stead! 

Let  me  venture  then  a  few  ways  whereby  the  Sunday 
school  thus  equipped  and  captained  can  multiply  its  useful- 
ness in  the  community  as  a  social  agent.  Time  will  permit 
only  brief  suggestions. 

1.  It  must  act  as  a  corrective  influence.  Judge  Fawcett, 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  who  has  had  many  years  of 
experience  on  the  bench  in  dealing  with  criminals,  makes 
the  significant  statement  that  of  the  twenty-seven  hundred 
boys  who  have  come  before  him  in  five  years  not  one  in 
all  that  number  was  a  member  of  a  Sunday  school;  and 
that  whenever  he  had  occasion  to  dismiss  a  case  he  had 
always  exhorted  the  accused  to  join  a  Sunday  school,  and 
in  no  instance  where  this  advice  had  been  followed  did  the 
individual  fail  to  reform.  Widen  this  suggestion  so  as  to 
make  the  Sunday  school  an  active,  helpful,  restraining,  and 
corrective  agency  and  witness  the  results  for  social  uplift. 

2.  It  must  serve  the  life  of  youth.  To  do  this,  it  must  re- 
spond to  moral  and  spiritual  needs;  for  the  Sunday  school 
will  teach  in  vain  if  it  fails  to  become  a  moral  guardian 
of  the  life  of  youth  at  school,  at  play,  in  recreation,  and 


68  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

at  home.  But  cooperating,  directing,  helping  it  will  extend 
its  benign  influence  in  stimulating  the  very  life  of  the  com- 
munity with  applied  Christianity  in  its  effort  to  "lessen 
every  vice  and  enlarge  every  virtue." 

3.  It  must  reach  out  in  a  guiding  capacity  in  practical 
service.  In  addition  to  ministering  to  typical  cases  of 
human  suffering  and  want,  there  are  social  problems  pecul- 
iar to  every  community.  The  Sunday  school,  alive  to  its 
highest  mission,  will  discover  these  and  will  make  itself 
"the  center  from  which  will  radiate  life  and  life-giving 
power." 

4.  It  must  express  itself  in  terms  of  life  to-day.  Into  a 
complex  civilization,  fraught  with  social  needs  and  prob- 
lems, there  has  come  a  highly  quickened  conscience.  The 
heart  of  mankind  has  been  touched  and  moved  to  deeds  of 
charity,  philanthropy,  and  benevolence  hitherto  unknown. 
Still  the  world  is  hungering  for  something  more.  The 
check  of  Crcesus  cannot  satisfy  that  hunger,  for  "the  gift 
without  the  giver  is  bare."  The  wellsprings  of  the  souls 
of  men  are  drying  up  because  they  have  no  chance  to  flow. 
It  is  this  hunger  for  a  larger  life  of  which  I  speak,  this 
opportunity  to  work  out  destiny,  this  chance  to  rise  to 
higher  things.  The  Sunday  school  is  called  into  this  new 
and  fruitful  field  of  service. 

From  my  sleeping  porch  this  spring  I  have  witnessed  a 
rare  and  beautiful  example  of  social  service.  It  was  that 
loving  service  rendered  by  parent  birds  to  their  young. 
Whether  hunger,  or  thirst,  or  wound,  or  enemy  came — 
whatever  the  need — ^the  parent  did  his  part.  At  last  one 
day  the  fluffy  little  birds  wanted  to  leave  their  home,  to 
fly,  to  try  their  wings.  Out,  out  into  the  new  world  the 
parent  guided,  and  stronger  and  stronger  the  young  life 
grew,  until  at  last  in  its  upward  flight  it  seemed  to  enter 
the  very  portals  of  heaven  itself.  This  is  a  message  to 
the  children  of  men;  this  a  message  to  the  Sunday  school 
in  its  relation  to  community  life.  But  will  the  Sunday 
school  measure  up  to  this  high  duty?    I  believe  it  will,  for 

"Out  of  the  darkness  of  the  night 
The  world  is  rolling  into  light — 
It  is  daybreak  everywhere." 


THE   RELIGIOUS    BASIS    OF   SOCIAL    SERVICE  69 

Happy  indeed  that  community,  happy  the  people  served, 
if  in  response  to  the  many  calls  to  social  service  to-day  the 
Sunday  schools  shall  answer,  in  the  words  of  Admiral 
Badger,  "We  are  ready." 


THE  RELIGIOUS  BASIS  OF  SOCIAL  SERVICE 

FATHER  PETER  A.  CRUMBLY,  O.F.M.,  MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Social  service  is  a  methodical  endeavor  to  regenerate 
and  ameliorate  society.  That  society  needs  regeneration  im- 
plies that  society  must  be  sick,  infirm,  diseased  before  it  can 
require  regeneration.  Reflect  to  what  things  we  apply  this 
term,  "to  regenerate."  When  a  system  which  was  once  good 
has  degenerated  and  becomes  bad,  men  say  it  must  be  re- 
formed, regenerated.  When  a  race  has  become  demoralized, 
when  bad  blood  gets  into  it  to  weaken  it,  when  it  seems  to  be 
fading  away,  it  must  get  an  infusion  of  fresh  blood.  So  it  is 
that  we  speak  of  society. 

The  symptoms  of  the  disease  that  ail  present-day  society 
have  been  laid  bare  and  intelligently  discussed  by  experi- 
enced men  and  women  in  this  Congress.  Remedies  have 
been  suggested — some  very  good,  others  less  so.  The  object 
of  my  paper  is  to  show  you  that,  unless  we  begin  this  regen- 
aration  in  the  right  way,  unless  we  erect  the  new  edifice  of 
socially  reformed  society  on  a  firm  religious  basis,  we  shall 
build  on  sand,  and  in  vain. 

"God  made  man  right,"  say  the  Scriptures.  He  made 
him  in  the  integrity  of  his  nature,  and  added  to  that  the  gift 
of  divine  grace.  God  made  man  a  human  body  with  all  its 
senses,  with  all  its  inclinations,  with  all  its  necessities ;  and 
into  that  body  Almighty  God  breathed  a  living  spirit,  an  im- 
mortal soul,  the  image  of  himself.  As  soon  as  man  refused 
his  homage  and  his  humble  obedience  to  his  Maker,  just  so 
soon  did  he  lose  the  mastery  over  himself  and  over  the  rest 
of  creation,  of  which  he  is  king.     Then  began  the  conflict 


70  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

between  man  and  his  brother;  as  soon  as  man  lost  sight  of 
his  duties  toward  his  God,  he  also  forgot  his  obligations  to- 
ward his  neighbor.  This  strife  has  grown,  and  has  for  ages 
called  forth  the  earnest  endeavors  of  social  workers,  who 
have  striven  to  restore  the  proper  relations  to  society,  who 
have  worked  to  replace  the  proper  equilibrium  that  should 
exist  between  man  and  man.  Some  claim  that  they  have 
been  successful;  others  say  not.  It  is  thus  that  the  mo- 
mentous question,  "Is  the  world  getting  better  or  worse?" 
occupies  the  minds  of  thinking  men  of  to-day. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  we  know  that  society  is  still  in  need  of 
improvement — regeneration.  The  object  of  this  Congress  is 
to  bring  together  well-meaning  men  and  women,  who  are 
conscious  that  they  are  their  brothers'  keepers;  who,  by 
study,  personal  observation,  and  by  conferring  with  others 
as  earnest,  as  disinterested,  and  as  unselfish  as  themselves, 
desire  to  learn  the  symptoms  of  the  disease  that  is  gnawing 
at  the  very  vitals  of  society  to-day,  and,  having  learned  the 
nature  of  the  malady,  fearlessly  to  apply  the  remedy. 

We  know  that  we  have  three  great  relations.  The  first 
of  these  is  to  God,  the  second  is  our  relation  to  our  families 
and  to  ourselves,  and  the  third  is  our  relation  to  the  great 
world  around  us  that  constitutes  the  state  and  the  society 
in  which  we  live.  The  first  demand  that  God  makes  upon 
him  is  faith;  the  first  demand  of  the  family  is  purity  and 
fidelity;  the  great  demand  that  society  makes  upon  every 
man  is  the  demand  for  honesty,  honor,  and  firmness  of  pur- 
pose. These  are  the  three  great  wants  of  our  age :  faith  in 
God,  purity  and  fidelity  in  the  family,  honesty  in  man's  deal- 
ing with  fellow  man,  in  his  commercial  relations  and  in  his 
administrative  capacity. 

Social  service  endeavors  to  remedy  this  condition.  Lest 
our  efforts  be  in  vain,  we  must  lay  a  deep  and  solid  founda- 
tion ;  we  must  build  upon  religion  as  our  basis,  else  our  work 
will  not  be  lasting. 

By  religion,  I  mean  the  tie  of  union  that  binds  man  to 
God,  the  acknowledgment  of  God's  right  to  demand  our  en- 
tire service,  because  he  is  our  Creator  and  will  be  our  Judge 
and  our  Remunerator. 


THE   RELIGIOUS   BASIS    OF   SOCIAL    SERVICE  71 

We  must  endeavor,  by  word  and  example,  to  instill  into 
the  hearts  of  men  the  love  of  God  that  should  be  there.  We 
must  teach  them  to  acknowledge  his  existence,  his  divine 
attributes,  his  power,  his  goodness,  his  justice,  and  his 
mercy.  We  must  teach  men  respect  for  God's  laws.  They 
must  know  that  they  must  adore  him  alone ;  him  alone  shall 
they  serve ;  they  must  learn  to  honor  his  holy  name  and  keep 
his  Sabbath  day  holy.  If  we  can  teach  men  to  know  God, 
to  love  him  and  serve  him,  if  we  can  enkindle  religion  in 
their  hearts,  we  shall  have  solved  the  much  mooted  social 
question. 

It  is  impossible  to  love  God  and  not  love  our  neighbor. 
As  St.  John  tells  us :  "If  a  man  say,  I  love  God,  and  hateth 
his  brother,  he  is  a  liar."  If  a  man  keep  the  first  and  great- 
est commandment  and  love  God  with  his  whole  heart,  with 
his  whole  soul,  with  his  whole  mind,  and  with  all  his 
strength,  then  he  will  keep  the  second  commandment,  which 
is  like  to  this :  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

Whence  comes  this  bitter  strife  between  the  classes  that 
we  see  so  fiercely  waged  about  us  ?  Why  is  it  that  the  em- 
ployer and  employee  regard  each  other  as  antagonists  ?  Why 
is  it  that  the  weak  and  lowly  must  flee  from  the  mighty, 
rather  than  to  him  for  protection  and  assistance?  It  is  be- 
cause many  have  become  so  blinded  by  their  power  and  so 
deafened  by  the  din  of  the  busy  marts  of  commerce  that 
they  fail  to  recognize  in  their  weaker  brother  the  image  and 
likeness  of  their  Creator. 

It  was  the  realization  of  the  necessity  of  detaching  men's 
hearts  from  the  perishable  things  of  this  world,  and  direct- 
ing his  gaze  to  his  true  goal  in  heaven,  of  teaching  him  that 
true  happiness  in  this  life  is  to  be  found  only  in  the  whole- 
hearted service  of  God,  and  self-forgetting  sacrifice  in  the 
service  of  their  neighbor,  that  inspired  such  men  as  St. 
Francis  of  Assisi  (who  has  been  called  the  saint  of  the  Prot- 
estants, because  his  life  appealed  to  Protestant  and  Catholic 
alike,  and  to  whose  order  I  have  the  honor  to  belong)  to 
leave  father  and  mother,  brother  and  sister,  honor  and 
riches,  to  devote  himself  to  a  life  of  obedience,  poverty, 
chastity,  penance,  humility,  and  charity  in  the  service  of  the 


72         BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

poor  and  distressed.  He  was  not  a  fanatic  nor  an  en- 
thusiast, but  a  man  whose  religion  meant  all  to  him.  It  was 
religion,  love  of  God  and  love  of  neighbor,  that  gave  stability 
to  his  work,  so  that,  after  seven  hundred  years,  his  order 
still  thrives  and  flourishes  wherever  the  cause  of  religion  is 
to  be  promoted. 

It  is  religion,  love  of  God  and  charity  to  fellow  man,  that 
enables  the  dauntless  missionary  to  deny  himself  the  com- 
forts of  home — yes,  even  of  civilization — to  carry  the  mes- 
sage of  redemption  to  those  who  have  never  heard  of  God 
and  of  his  goodness.  It  is  religion,  love  of  God  and  charity 
toward  their  neighbor,  that  inspires  noble  women  to  lead  a 
life  consecrated  to  God's  service  in  the  person  of  his  or- 
phans, his  sick  in  our  hospitals,  his  aged  and  neglected  in 
our  old  people's  homes.  It  is  religion,  love  of  God  and  of  our 
neighbor,  that  gives  the  Sister  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  gen- 
teel and  carefully  trained,  the  courage  to  overcome  the 
natural  repugnance  that  a  pure  woman  feels  for  a  fallen 
one,  and  to  reach  out  her  hand  to  the  poor  spurned  outcast 
and  lead  her  back  to  a  life  of  purity  and  of  usefulness  to 
society. 

Ask  yourselves,  my  dear  friends,  what  is  it  that  inspires 
you  to  your  social  service?  Could  you  continue  day  after 
day,  year  in  and  year  out  (for  whoever  enlists  in  social 
service  enlists  for  life) ,  in  your  work  of  relieving  the  dis- 
tress you  see  about  you,  in  your  endeavor  in  the  schoolroom 
to  educate  and  train  the  youth  confided  to  your  care  to  walk 
the  paths  of  purity  and  honesty,  in  your  zealous  striving  in 
the  juvenile  court  room  to  correct  and  guide  aright  the  feet 
that,  early  in  life,  have  already  slipped,  or  are  about  to  step 
from  the  path  of  virtue,  if  you  were  actuated  merely  by 
philanthropy,  or  civic  pride,  or  even  the  hope  of  temporal 
remuneration?  Do  you  not  often  grow  weary  and  footsore, 
as  well  as  heartsore,  in  the  work  you  are  doing,  so  weary 
and  disheartened,  indeed,  that  you  would  give  up  an  appar- 
ently thankless  task,  but  that  you  know  you  are  doing  God's 
work  for  the  glory  of  his  name?  Is  not  your  religion  your 
guiding  star  in  dark  hours  of  doubt,  your  encouragement 
and  mainstay  in  days  of  discouragement?    If  not,  my  friend. 


THE  CO-ORDINATION  OF  FORCES  73 

you  are  doomed  to  be  a  failure ;  but  if  it  is,  if  your  religion, 
yjour  love  of  God  and  of  your  neighbor,  buoy  you  up,  then 
your  social  service  is  of  the  right  kind,  it  is  built  on  the 
proper  foundation. 

It  is  religion  upon  which  social  service  must  build — not 
upon  mere  philanthropy,  not  upon  mere  patriotism  or  civic 
pride,  but  upon  philanthropy  and  civic  pride  permeated  with 
that  charity  which  sees  in  our  brother  our  Maker's  image, 
upon  that  charity  that  is  founded  and  measured  by  the  love 
of  man  for  God.  In  a  word,  social  service,  to  be  true  and 
lasting,  must  be  built  on  religion  as  its  solid  basis. 

Let  us  then,  in  the  name  of  God,  begin  to  carry  out  the 
work  of  this  Congress ;  let  us  spread  the  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth ;  let  us  teach  our  neighbor  by  our  lives,  even  more  than 
by  our  words,  what  it  means  to  love  God  first  and  last  and 
always,  and  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves;  then  our 
social  service  is  bound  to  please  him,  and  our  ultimate  suc- 
cess is  assured. 


THE  COORDINATION  OF  SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS 

FORCES 

REV.  W.  H.  SLINGERLAND,  A.M.,  PH.D.,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

The  conservation  of  resources  is  one  of  the  greatest  ob- 
jects of  our  age.  The  conservation  of  human  life  is  the  most 
sacred  and  important  feature  of  this  work.  To  accomplish 
large  results  we  must  both  refine  individuals  and  improve 
society.  "No  man  liveth  unto  himself."  Waste  in  the  slums 
means  loss  on  the  avenue.  Individual  forces  everywhere 
will  prove  insufficient.  Only  as  all  community  forces  are 
combined  can  we  secure  general  social  betterment. 

The  union  of  social  and  religious  forces  to  promote  every 
noble  element  of  an  advancing  civilization  has  been  called 
"the  super-power  of  an  associated  people."  In  this  "super- 
power" we  have  the  key  to  unlock  the  gates  of  a  happy 
future  for  America  and  the  world. 


74  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

Coordination,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  used  in  our 
theme,  is  any  combination  or  adjustment  for  action  which 
will  lead  to  the  desired  result.  In  an  old  mill  where  I  once 
worked  we  had  both  steam  and  water  power.  When  the  tur- 
bine was  unable  to  bear  the  whole  load,  the  engine  was 
started  to  keep  the  wheels  turning.  It  was  a  coordination 
of  propulsive  forces.  We  need  a  similar  and  constant  co- 
ordination of  social  and  religious  forces  to  propel  the  car  of 
progress. 

Some  time  ago  I  sat  beside  the  driver  of  a  four-horse 
stage.  There  was  a  lead  team  dancing  and  swaying  on 
ahead,  and  the  pole  horses  below  us,  next  to  the  wagon.  It 
was  a  marvel  to  me  that  the  lines  never  got  tangled  and  that 
guidance  and  stimulation  could  be  given  just  when  and 
where  they  were  needed.  But  the  skillful  Jehu  at  my  side 
carefully  coordinated  his  living  forces  and  the  lumbering 
old  stage  sped  along,  up  hill  and  down,  around  corners,  along 
narrow  causeways  cut  in  the  mountain  side,  and  through 
miry  difficulties  in  the  valleys,  steadily  to  its  journey's  end. 

Human  society  is  a  great  omnibus  speeding  along  the 
highways  of  time.  Two  great  and  related  teams  are  tugging 
it  onward  day  by  day.  The  combined  social  and  religious 
forces  of  the  age,  of  which  we  are  a  part,  are  the  teams ; 
humanity  fills  the  omnibus;  and  up  yonder  on  the  driver's 
seat,  unseen  but  efficient,  sits  One  who  long  ago  said  to  an 
assemblage  on  a  Judean  mountain :  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  al- 
way,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

The  simile  is  not  perfect.  The  stage  teams  possessed 
intelligence,  but  were  not  free  agents.  They  perforce 
obeyed  the  voice,  the  whip,  and  the  reins  in  the  hands  of 
the  driver.  The  great  social  and  religious  forces  of  the 
world  are  not  only  intelligent,  but  move  and  labor  in  man- 
ners modified  by  the  free  agency  of  the  human  units  com- 
posing them. 

Yet  the  simile  is  suggestive.  Two  coordinated  teams  are 
hitched  to  the  car  of  progress.  Its  advance  is  determined 
largely  by  the  unity  of  their  response  to  the  needs  of  the 
times.  If  either  fails  to  do  its  part,  the  other  is  over- 
burdened, humanity  suffers  loss,  i)erhaps  is  endangered,  and 
proper  advancement  is  impossible. 


THE  CO-ORDINATION  OP  FORCES  75 

Religion  is  recognition  of  an  unseen  Supreme  Being,  on 
■\^hom  man  is  dependent  and  to  whom  he  owes  complete 
allegiance,  and  a  course  of  life  and  action  in  conformity 
to  his  revealed  will.  Religious  forces  affect  mankind  in 
three  ways: 

1.  By  direct  Divine  spiritual  impulses. 

2.  By  the  written  word  of  Divine  revelation. 

3.  By  the  ministration  of  human  beings  to  each  other, 
generally  through  the  organized  Church  or  its  individual 
membership. 

Our  churches  have  a  social  as  well  as  an  individual  re- 
sponsibility. There  is,  or  should  be,  a  definite  relation  be- 
tween them  and  all  elements  of  their  communities.  This 
relation  need  not  always,  nor  even  generally,  be  organic. 
Most  frequently  it  should  be  an  emanation  of  religious  spirit 
and  principle,  through  its  individual  members,  and  affecting 
through  them  the  quality  of  social  conditions.  I  hold  it  to 
be  an  essential  duty  of  the  followers  of  Christ  to  prove  their 
discipleship  by  continuous,  energetic,  and  effective  striving 
to  establish  high  physical,  moral,  and  religious  standards 
of  living,  and  to  labor  for  all  kinds  of  social  betterment. 

The  social  elements  of  communities  are  distinguished  by 
the  term  secular,  and  are  largely  expressed  in  institutions 
of  a  more  or  less  formal  nature.  The  home,  the  school,  the 
asylum,  the  hospital,  the  store,  the  factory,  and  even  the 
political  party,  are  some  of  the  elements  now  essential  to 
human  welfare.  They  are  the  media  for  the  operation  of 
forces  we  usually  term  social,  since  they  inhere  in  society 
and  are  elemental  parts  of  our  modern  civilization. 

The  distinction  between  social  and  religious  forces  is 
probably  more  in  name  than  in  kind.  Perhaps  sometime 
we  will  be  able  to  obliterate  the  line  between  sacred  and 
secular,  and  will  then  no  longer  need  to  indicate  a  differ- 
ence between  social  and  religious.  At  present  we  are  obliged 
to  concede  a  distinction.  May  we  not  say  of  religious  forces 
that  they  are  definitely  of  Divine  origin,  and  always  make 
for  human  betterment?  Social  forces  are  more  distinctly 
human  in  origin,  and  they  make  for  either  the  injury  or 
the  betterment  of  humanity.  Social  forces  also  may  be 
guided  or  dominated  by  religious  forces,  so  as  to  enlarge 


76  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

and  render  cumulative  their  power  for  betterment.  Or 
without  the  guidance  and  control  of  religious  forces,  those 
we  term  social  may  decline  in  strength,  or  change  in  quality, 
until  the  very  civilization  of  which  they  are  a  part  is  de- 
stroyed. 

It  is  said  that  the  cordage  of  Great  Britain's  navy  has 
twined  into  every  rope  a  scarlet  thread.  Wherever  found 
it  is  the  evidence  of  both  quality  and  ownership.  So  there 
should  be  religious  forces  related  to  and  intertwined  with 
all  social  forces,  the  quality  thread  of  Divine  guidance  and 
authority,  aiding  in  the  attainment  of  increasing  social 
betterment. 

I  believe  that  the  Christian  Church  has  a  dual  mission. 
Its  first  and  primal  duty  is  to  bring  to  individual  human 
beings  the  high  and  holy  messages  of  the  gospel;  then  to 
teach  and  train  them  as  members  of  the  household  of  God. 
Its  second  duty  is  to  reconstruct  human  society  so  that  in- 
dividuals may  live  in  a  Christian  environment.  This  means 
that  the  Church  is  not  only  the  source  of  influences  for  per- 
sonal salvation,  but  also  of  a  leaven  of  righteousness  for  the 
reformation,  the  regeneration  if  you  will,  of  the  whole 
social  order. 

Mr.  John  M.  Glenn,  in  an  address  at  the  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities  and  Correction,  in  1913,  made  this 
positive  declaration:  "Spiritual  power  is  the  onlj'^  pK>wer 
that  can  save  us  from  the  powers  of  wickedness  and  de- 
generation, the  only  power  that  will  cleanse  and  purify  the 
world  of  the  tyranny  of  selfishness,  the  only  power  that  will 
bring  peace  and  good  will  to  individuals,  classes,  and  na- 
tions. .  .  .  Social  service  is  the  practical,  inevitable, 
necessary  consequence  and  complement  of  true  spiritual  be- 
lief.   They  are  mutually  essential." 

In  other  words,  religion  is  indispensable  to  the  highest 
type  of  social  service,  and  social  service  is  the  natural  ex- 
pression, the  necessary  outreach  manward,  of  any  faith 
that  properly  claims  a  Divine  origin. 

Mere  names  and  creeds  in  this  relation  are  unimpor- 
tant. From  the  author  of  true  religion  have  come  both 
messages  of  personal  salvation  and  impulses  tending  to 


THE  CO-ORDINATION  OF  FORCES  77 

develop  a  social  conscience,  to  arouse  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility for  the  elimination  of  evils,  to  awaken  desire  to  aid 
the  helpless,  to  lift  up  the  fallen,  and  to  stimulate  the  es- 
tablishment of  constructive  agencies  and  regulations.  True 
religion  is  the  real  source  of  the  essentials  of  social  service, 
and  religious  forces  are  the  constant  inspiration  and  sup- 
port of  all  efforts  for  social  betterment. 

I  have  mentioned  some  of  the  principal  social  elements 
in  and  through  which  social  forces  are  manifested.  Let 
me  add  to  them  the  organizations  and  institutions  usually 
called  social  welfare  agencies.  Do  not  think  me  radical  be- 
yond many  in  saying  that  the  entire  system  of  social  wel- 
fare agencies  is  essentially  religious.  In  effect  they  are  re- 
ligious service  centers,  related  not  to  voluntary  groups  but 
to  entire  communities.  They  minister  to  the  social  needs 
of  the  people  as  the  churches  minister  to  their  personal 
and  spiritual  needs. 

The  other  day  at  the  New  Jersey  State  Conference  of 
Charities  and  Correction,  the  Head  Worker  of  Union  Set- 
tlement, New  York  City  (Rev.  Gaylord  S.  White) ,  declared 
that  settlement  centers,  although  in  the  past  largely  dis- 
sociated from  all  the  churches,  were  coming  into  closer  co- 
operation with  them  every  year,  realizing  that  settlement 
work  is,  after  all,  only  one  form  of  religious  service. 

He  also  said:  "The  social  movement  of  to-day  is  but 
another  channel  through  which  the  vital  spirit  of  religion 
is  flowing  out  to  humanity.  It  is  Christ  becoming  the  yoke- 
fellow of  man  in  a  general  uplift  of  the  race." 

Another  has  illustrated  the  coordination  of  social  and 
religious  forces  in  these  words:  "The  churches  are  the 
power  houses,  where  individuals  are  charged  with  divine 
electricity  and  communities  are  brought  into  touch  with 
uplifting  forces.  The  elements  and  institutions  of  society 
are  distributing  centers,  where  uplift  and  vitality  are  ad- 
ministered to  needy  multitudes,  who  cannot  so  readily  avail 
themselves  of  the  divine  forces  and  provisions." 

In  this  connection  it  may  well  be  noted  that  a  great  ma- 
jority of  all  who  are  eminent  in  matters  of  business,  gov- 
ernment, or  philanthropy  are  religious  men  and  women. 


78  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

In  social  welfare  organizations  it  is  estimated  that  at  least 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  all  social  workers  are  professors  of 
religion,  and  as  "live  wires"  are  bearing  spiritual  messages 
along  with  physical  assistance  to  the  depressed  personalities 
they  serve. 

And  yet  I  plead  for  a  greater  coordination  of  social  and 
religious  forces  for  coming  days.  The  Church  has  been 
friendly  to  social  betterment,  but  seldom  has  definitely  ac- 
cepted community  improvement  as  a  part  of  its  duty.  I 
urge  that  the  Church  awake  to  the  social  side  of  its  mis- 
sion, and  begin  a  definite  campaign  for  clean  community 
environment. 

Will  not  this  endanger  our  democratic  relations?  No, 
for  I  urge  nothing  for  the  direct  aggrandizement  of  the 
organized  church ;  but  only  for  its  employment  as  an  altru- 
istic force  for  human  betterment. 

In  past  ages,  and  in  some  lands  at  the  present  time, 
there  was  injurious  union  of  Church  and  State.  In  it  the 
State  was  and  is  exploited  to  increase  the  wealth  and  power 
of  the  Church.  I  need  not  remind  you  of  nations  which 
suffered  for  centuries  under  adverse  conditions  produced  by 
this  unhappy  union.  I  could,  if  need  be,  point  out  present- 
day  examples  of  convincing  character. 

But  it  is  a  very  different  thing  when  all  of  the  spiritual 
and  material  forces  of  the  Church  are  utilized  for  the  benefit 
of  all  the  people  of  the  community.  The  power  of  religious 
forces  is  needed  to  stimulate  and  guide  the  social  forces, 
and  the  spirit  of  religion  must  sweeten  and  clarify  our 
social  efforts.  All  social  service  in  these  times  needs  an 
increase  in  its  religious  elements  to  make  it  effective.  The 
active  use  of  religious  forces  now  advocated  is  to  make 
them  the  real  dynamic  behind  all  social  movements,  so 
that  there  shall  be  not  only  adequate  power  to  propel  them 
to  success,  but  also  an  uplifting  tendency  that  shall  make 
all  progress  tend  to  human  betterment. 

There  is  a  suggestive  scene  in  the  old  German  drama. 
"Nathan  der  Weise."  The  Mohammedan,  the  Jew,  and  the 
Christian  had  been  explaining  the  tenets  of  their  various 
faiths,  and  each  had  found  in  the  essentials  of  the  other 


THE  CO-ORDINATION  OF  FORCES  79 

that  which  most  reminded  him  of  his  own.  Then  said  the 
astonished  Christian  to  his  Hebrew  friend :  "I  had  forgotten 
that  our  Saviour  was  himself  a  Jew."  Too  often  we  forget 
the  fundamental  unity  of  all  true  religion  and  the  essential 
brotherhood  of  all  mankind. 

Not  long  ago  I  heard  F.  H.  Tracy,  the  efficient  sheriff  of 
Washington  County,  Vermont,  tell  what  led  him  into  his 
present  service,  and  what  influenced  him  to  originate  the 
honor  system  for  jail  prisoners  which  has  done  something 
to  make  Montpelier  famous.  It  was  the  example  and  teach- 
ing of  his  Christian  mother,  who  all  her  life  had  been  the 
friend  of  those  "sick  and  in  prison."  Tracy  himself  is  an 
example  of  Christian  character,  rugged  as  the  hills  of  his 
native  State  and  white-souled  as  the  winter  snows  upon 
their  summits. 

The  same  spirit  is  in  Warden  Gilmour,  of  Toronto,  Gov- 
ernor West,  of  Oregon,  Harris  R.  Cooley,  Cleveland's  Di- 
rector of  Public  Service,  and  scores  more  who  are  in  the 
spK)t-light  of  to-day  as  leading  examples  of  successful  social 
service.  They  are  not  machine-like  officials;  they  are  men 
with  faith  in  God  and  hearts  that  beat  in  sympathy  with 
their  fellows.  As  I  heard  one  of  them  say,  their  type  of 
work  is  based  on  the  fact  that  we  are  all  folks — some  in 
jail  and  some  out  of  jail. 

Frances  E.  Willard,  the  nineteenth-century  angel  of  the 
temperance  reform,  Miss  Jane  Addams,  the  gifted  writer, 
executive,  and  social  guardian  of  Chicago,  and  Miss  Kath- 
erine  Bement  Davis,  New  York's  Commissioner  of  Correc- 
tions, are  eminent  women  who  have  coordinated  the  social 
and  religious  forces  of  the  age  for  the  betterment  of  untold 
thousands.  They  make  visible  to  all  eyes  the  truth  of  a 
statement  recently  printed :  "Good  social  service  is  only  an- 
other name  for  practical  religion." 

Someone  may  say  I  am  too  general  in  my  statements. 
What  can  organized  religion  do  to  promote  the  general  so- 
cial welfare?    Let  me  give  a  few  definite  suggestions: 

1.  The  organized  Church  should  study  community  prob- 
lems and  carefully  consider  the  wisest  methods  to  use  in 
destroying  the  bad  and  building  up  the  good. 


80  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTTERMENT 

2.  It  should  cooperate  with  all  intelligent  and  well-ad- 
ministered social  agencies,  public  and  private,  both  organ- 
ically, when  such  formal  action  is  advisable,  and  by  its  in- 
dividual members  at  all  times. 

3.  The  organized  Church  should  provide  for  its  mem- 
bers, young  and  old,  courses  of  study  in  civic,  social,  and 
national  questions.  The  religious  person  should  be  definite- 
ly informed  on  all  matters  relating  to  his  environment,  and 
there  is  need  of  enlightenment  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
church,  if  work  is  to  be  done  to  reconstruct  adverse  elements 
on  the  lines  of  social  betterment. 

4.  On  this  matter  of  a  religious  viewpoint,  it  is  im- 
portant that  colleges  and  theological  seminaries  shall  give 
courses  dealing  with  social  questions,  and  train  their  stu- 
dents to  think  and  act  with  the  higher  welfare  of  communi- 
ties in  view. 

5.  The  general  social  subjects  should  be  frequently  treat- 
ed in  study  classes  and  in  pulpit  talks.  Such  are  the  purity 
of  personal  life,  the  sacredness  of  the  marriage  relation, 
duty  to  children,  and  of  children  to  their  parents,  the  evils 
of  divorce  and  desertion,  the  curse  of  drug  habits  and  in- 
temperance, the  abolition  of  the  open  saloon,  the  suppres- 
sion of  gambling,  the  destruction  of  the  white  slave  traffic, 
clean  recreation  for  old  and  young,  progressive  educational 
systems,  well  managed  and  adequately  supported  philan- 
thropies, the  evils  of  graft  ih  public  service,  honesty  and 
the  golden  rule  in  business,  and  the  right  government  in 
every  department  from  the  village  poundmaster  to  the 
United  States  President. 

6.  And  what  is  taught  in  the  church  it  should  be  made 
the  business  of  all  members  of  the  congregation  to  make 
real  in  everyday  life.  I  know  many  of  these  things  are 
taught,  or  at  least  mentioned,  in  Church  circles  at  the 
present  time.  That  is  not  enough.  They  must  be  taught  as 
parts  of  the  social  mission  of  the  Church,  and  carried  out, 
not  sporadically  and  in  haphazard  ways,  but  constantly  and 
systematically.  Let  it  be  definitely  understood  that  Chris- 
tian service  includes  the  coordination  of  social  and  reli- 
gious forces  always  and  everywhere,  for  the  reconstruction 


THE  CO-ORDINATION  OF  FORCES  81 

of  society  and  the  establishment  of  God's  kingdom  among 
men,  and  immense  results  for  good  will  come  as  surely  as 
day  follows  night. 

7.  I  need  scarcely  say  that  such  coordination  also  im- 
plies most  cordial  and  complete  cooperation  among  the  de- 
nominations. The  power  of  combination  is  necessary  to 
the  sure  and  speedy  accomplishment  of  results.  Already  we 
see  beginnings  in  the  field  of  organized  philanthropy.  It 
should  spread  until  all  phases  of  social  betterment  are 
touched  by  the  coordinated  powers  of  all  high-minded 
people. 

Miss  Virginia  McMechen,  of  Seattle,  says :  "The  crudest 
form  of  cooperative  effort  is  represented  by  friendly  in- 
tercourse. The  second  stage  is  where  agencies  begin  to 
recognize  difference  in  function  and  to  refer  to  its  proper 
agency  work  that  falls  within  its  legitimate  province.  The 
third  stage  is  where  all  the  agencies  do  things  together." 

The  reference  is  to  organized  philanthropies,  but  the 
idea  applies  as  well  to  every  religious  activity.  The  first 
stage,  friendly  intercourse,  has  been  reached  by  a  majority 
of  churches  and  religious  workers.  The  second  stage  has 
been  attained  by  a  small  minority,  but  even  among  them  is 
still  unnecessary  waste  and  competition.  Almost  every- 
where the  third  stage  is  a  dream  of  the  future.  Yet  some- 
time all  the  churches,  and  all  good  people  outside  of  the 
churches,  will  join  hands  to  physically,  intellectually,  finan- 
cially, morally,  and  religiously  cleanse  and  beautify  this  old 
world  of  ours,  and  make  it  a  happy  and  holy  place  of  tem- 
porary residence  for  beings  destined  to  immortality. 

The  philosophy  of  Christian  and  social  service  demands 
such  coordination.  The  pressing  needs  of  practical  work 
require  the  largest  possible  measure  of  cooperative  effort. 
Isolation  and  individualism  in  this  age  mean  incapacitation. 
Neither  social  workers  nor  churches  can  stand  alone.  To 
attempt  progress  without  definite  cooperation  is  to  invite 
failure,  and  to  waste  money  and  effort.  Secretary  Daniels 
said  in  a  recent  address  that  the  operation  of  every  war- 
ship required  the  constant  service  of  skilled  artisans  repre- 
senting twenty-nine  trades.     In  pressing  the  campaign  for 


82  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

the  betterment  of  humanity  we  need  the  coordinate  efforts 
of  ten  times  twenty-nine  trades,  and  all  of  the  religious  or- 
ganizations. 

When  a  new  minister  was  installed  some  years  ago  in  a 
mid-Western  city,  Mr.  0.  C.  McCulloch  turned  to  him  and 
said:  "My  brother,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  it?" 
"With  what?"  said  the  astonished  minister.  "With  this 
magnificent  social  force  which  you  have  at  your  command ; 
these  splendid  men  and  women  whom  you  are  to  lead  and 
counsel.  Against  what  great  social  evils  are  you  going  to 
hurl  this  force?  Toward  what  splendid  achievement  of 
social  and  religious  uplift  are  you  going  to  lead  it?"  Of 
every  church  and  social  leader  that  hears  these  words,  I 
ask  the  same  question:  "What  are  you  going  to  do  with 
the  social  and  religious  forces  God  has  put  at  your  com- 
mand?" 


THE  NEW  PROFESSION  OF  SOCIAL  SERVICE 

GEORGE  B.  MANGOLD,  PH.D.,  ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

We  have  entered  a  new  era  in  the  development  of  our 
social  work,  and  the  time  has  come  when  our  practice  must 
be  made  to  harmonize  with  our  theory.  We  no  longer  be- 
lieve in  limiting  ourselves  to  the  task  of  healing  the  sick, 
of  binding  the  wounds  of  the  distressed,  and  of  helping  the 
lame  and  the  halt.  We  no  longer  believe  that  we  should 
serve  as  a  body  of  nurses  and  physicians,  following  the  army 
and  ministering  to  the  needs  of  the  wounded  and  the  fallen. 
Instead  of  that,  we  believe  that  it  is  time  to  push  to  the 
front  to  participate  in  the  battle  to  win  the  victory  if  possible, 
and  make  further  bloodshed  unnecessary.  As  a  consequence 
we  would  not  be  compelled  to  deal  with  the  wounded  or  the 
injured.  Most  of  our  social  work  has  been  occupied  with 
the  relief  of  the  men  suffering  from  conditions  that  should 
be  prevented.  We  have  been  so  busy  with  relief  that  we 
have  not  given  time  to  the  prevention  of  distress. 


THE  NEW  PROFESSION  OF  SOCIAL  SERVICE  83 

To-day  our  slogan  is  "prevention,  not  cure,"  is  "con- 
structive effort,  not  remedial  work."  A  new  task,  how- 
ever, cannot  depend  on  the  work  of  novices;  it  cannot  de- 
pend on  those  who  have  no  vision  of  the  possibilities  of  com- 
munity effort  and  constructive  work.  Therefore,  the  task 
of  social  service  is  weighed  down  with  tremendous  respon- 
sibility, and  the  men  and  women  who  engage  therein  must 
feel  the  gravity  of  their  duties.  In  the  light  of  our  in- 
creased knowledge,  new  principles  as  to  fitness  of  the  pro- 
fession of  social  service  are  developing.  Length  of  service 
is  not  a  prime  qualification  for  social  work;  in  fact,  it 
frequently  disqualifies  men  for  service  to  the  community. 
It  is  nonsense  to  take  a  broken-down  professor  and  give  to 
him  the  duty  of  helping  and  improving  social  conditions.  It 
is  idle  to  use  the  superannuated  preachers  or  teachers  and 
charge  them  with  the  responsibility  of  promoting  our  pub- 
lic welfare.  Social  service  is  too  important  and  too  digni- 
fied a  profession  to  allow  the  use  of  persons  who  are  no 
longer  able  to  serve  the  world  in  their  chosen  profession. 
What  is  needed  is  the  red  blood  that  flows  in  the  veins  of 
the  enthusiastic,  trained  young  men  and  women  who  work 
out  problems  of  social  welfare  along  the  lines  which  mature 
judgment  and  experience  have  determined  are  the  best. 
Social  service  is  an  opportunity  for  the  accomplishment  of 
results;  but  it  is  more:  it  represents  a  body  of  principles 
which  if  applied  to  our  social  life  means  better  and  happier 
living. 

It  is  difficult  to  define  social  service.  But  as  currently 
used  the  term  applies  both  to  methods  of  improving  the  in- 
dividual and  adapting  him  to  the  social  conditions  about 
him,  and  to  the  task  of  improving  general  social  conditions 
so  that  the  individual  may  be  more  capable  of  realizing  his 
capacities  and  of  taking  his  place  in  the  world.  We  are 
beginning  to  learn  that  human  beings  are  interrelated  in 
their  social  life,  that  what  affects  the  one  affects  the  other, 
and  that  we  cannot  deal  with  individuals  separately.  We 
cannot  restore  one  man  without  affecting  others,  and  we 
cannot  affect  the  group  without  touching  the  individual 
men.    The  art  of  social  service,  therefore,  touches  both  in- 


84  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

dividuals  and  the  general  conditions  or  environment  in 
which  those  individuals  are  placed ;  to  attempt  the  one  with- 
out the  other  is  unwise,  irrational,  and  unscientific.  To 
relate  the  two,  and  to  work  out  these  problems  so  that 
lasting  good  will  come  to  the  individual  and  to  society,  re- 
quires study,  training,  and  experience. 

By  some,  social  service  has  been  confused  with  religion, 
and  been  considered  a  branch  of  Church  work.  But  social 
service  is  not  coextensive  with  religion,  it  is  not  a  branch  of 
Church  work;  it  deals  with  the  wide  expansive  field  of 
"the  social  and  living  conditions  of  our  people."  To  be 
sure,  the  Church  should  engage  in  social  service  and  the 
task  of  social  service  should  form  a  most  prominent  part 
of  the  work  of  the  Church  in  meeting  the  vital  problems  of 
the  people,  but  that  does  not  make  social  service  subordi- 
nate to  Church  work.  More  properly  one  of  the  branches 
of  Church  work  is  social  service,  for  no  modern  enlightened 
church  can  afford  to  refuse  to  face  the  questions  that  mean 
the  physical  and  moral  health  of  our  people.  If  they  do, 
they  cannot  hope  to  spiritualize  the  lives  of  men  and  women 
with  whom  they  work. 

Nor  is  social  service  a  branch  of  the  work  of  the  school, 
or  of  the  State,  or  of  the  home.  Each  of  these  agencies, 
however,  must  perform  much  work  which  is  essentially 
social  service  in  its  nature.  In  other  words,  social  service 
represents  a  method  of  work,  and  a  field  of  work  which  is 
not  coextensive  with  the  work  of  any  other  institution  or 
agency.  And  because  the  field  of  social  service  is  distin- 
guished from  that  of  other  professions  it  should  itself  be 
considered  a  profession.  But  it  is  not  a  side  line  of  the 
work  of  the  preacher,  or  of  the  doctor,  or  of  the  lawyer, 
or  of  the  teacher.  It  is  a  profession  which  requires  the 
time  and  the  utmost  capacity  of  the  man  who  expects  to 
enter  it. 

That  which  is  a  profession  requires  professional  train- 
ing, and  the  latest  and  newest  profession  can  gain  much 
from  the  older  ones  in  regard  to  methods  of  entering. 
There  was  ^  time  when  the  lawyer  acquired  his  knowledge 
by  reading  a  short  time  in  the  law  office  of  another,  and 


THE  NEW  PROFESSION  OF  SOCIAL  SERVICE  85 

by  observing  the  work  and  following  the  experience  of  his 
Informal  teacher.  He  was,  however,  considered  to  be  ready 
for  practice  after  a  comparatively  short  time  in  the  office 
where  he  had  been  pondering  over  a  few  ancient  and  dusty 
law  books.  To-day  the  profession  of  law  is  not  acquired 
in  this  way,  for  the  student  is  compelled  to  spend  several 
years  in  a  law  school  where  a  carefully  worked  out  cur- 
riculum is  covered.  When  he  has  finished  his  course  he 
has  learned  some  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  this 
profession,  and  he  has  covered  innumerable  court  cases 
which  have  taught  him  some  of  these  principles  and  points 
of  view.  Even  then,  he  expects  to  spend  a  year  as  a  jour- 
neyman or  apprentice  in  the  office  of  an  established  lawyer, 
and  there  he  becomes  still  better  acquainted  with  the  art 
and  the  methods  of  this  chosen  profession.  Then  he  is 
ready  for  a  career  of  his  own. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  teacher  taught  from  the 
textbook;  it  mattered  little  whether  he  was  acquainted 
with  the  subject  matter  or  not.  If  he  was,  the  book  served 
little  purpose;  if  not,  it  was  there  for  reference,  nor  had 
he  learned  the  pedagogical  or  the  psychological  principles 
which  underlie  successful  work  in  the  classroom.  In  other 
words,  teaching  was  not  a  real  profession ;  it  only  appeared 
that  here  was  the  field  for  some  profession.  To-day  the 
teacher  is  expected  to  have  knowledge  of  the  subject  matter 
to  be  taught;  but  more  important  than  this  is  the  knowl- 
edge how  to  teach,  how  to  lead  out  and  to  train  the  student 
or  pupils  placed  in  his  care.  He  has  acquired  this  pro- 
ficiency in  the  normal  school,  or  the  college,  or  the  univer- 
sity; and  he  has  trained  himself  so  that  he  may  be  able  to 
train  others.    Teaching  has  become  a  profession. 

Let  us  apply  these  illustrations  to  the  profession  of 
social  service.  Is  it  possible  that  in  the  face  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  past  we  shall  be  compelled  to  force  the 
profession  of  social  service  through  the  same  historical 
steps  that  have  marked  the  profession  of  the  lawyer,  the 
teacher,  and  others?  We  have  seen  that  the  self-taught  and 
the  self-made  lawyer  and  teacher  are  no  longer  in  vogue,  but 
that  professionally  trained  men  have  taken  their  places. 


86  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTTERMENT 

Why  ?  Because  a  systematic  training  is  the  best  way  to  secure 
adequate  results.  If  the  social  worker  must  be  scientific 
in  his  methods  in  order  to  obtain  successful  results,  then 
he  needs  the  training  and  the  experience  which  will  make 
him  apply  those  methods.  Are  there  any  principles  of  action 
which  can  be  applied  to  society,  and  which  will  work  out  in 
fair  accord?  Can  the  sociology  and  the  psychology  of 
human  beings  be  reduced  in  part  to  definite  principles?  If 
so,  the  social  worker  is  engaged  in  scientific  forms  of  work. 
If  social  service  is  more  than  the  giving  of  alms  to  the  poor 
and  the  needy ;  if  it  is  more  than  the  giving  of  a  free  meal 
or  a  free  bed ;  if  it  provides  something  more  than  temporary 
relief  from  sickness  or  distress;  if  in  addition  to  these 
things  it  makes  the  giving  of  alms  or  of  free  meals  unneces- 
sary, and  protects  our  people  from  sickness  and  distress — 
then  it  brings  scientific  principles  into  play.  If  social  serv- 
ice means  the  organization  of  philanthropy,  the  correlation 
of  effort,  the  harnessing  of  the  community  for  its  own  up- 
liftment  and  the  progressive  upbuilding  of  individual  char- 
acter and  the  advancement  of  our  social  welfare,  then  cer- 
tain definite  principles  of  action  must  be  followed. 

It  is  a  commonplace  that  much  good  will  is  ignorantly  ex- 
pended to  the  detriment  of  humanity.  There  is  need  of  good 
will ;  we  can  never  have  too  much,  but  hearts  without  heads 
are  like  ships  ^vithout  rudders  or  trucks  without  roads.  The 
social  worker  cannot  be  successful  if  he  does  not  have  an 
intense  sympathy  for  humankind,  but  that  sympathy  must 
be  controlled  by  good  judgment,  while  behind  his  judgment 
must  stand  an  appreciation  of  the  relation  of  our  social 
problems,  and  an  adeptness  in  technique  which  makes  his 
work  successful.  But  as  with  the  lawyer,  the  teacher,  or  the 
engineer  they  are  best  gotten  through  the  training  afforded 
in  professional  schools. 

What  then  are  the  principal  essentials  of  training  for 
social  work?  In  my  judgment  they  are  mainly  two,  as  fol- 
lows :  First,  a  study  of  the  social  field  and  of  its  intricate 
and  related  problems;  second,  by  the  development  of  skill 
in  the  method  and  technique  of  social  work.  The  relative 
importance  of  these  essentials  for  the  individual  depends 


THE  NEW  PROFESSION  OF  SOCIAL  SERVICE  87 

on  his  capacity  and  former  training.  The  man  or  woman 
whose  education  is  limited  and  whose  outlook  is  narrow 
must  always  remain  in  a  subordinate  position.  He  cannot 
lead  or  direct  the  forms  of  social  progress ;  he  must  confine 
himself  largely  to  the  handling  of  details,  and  especially  to 
the  task  of  working  with  the  individual  rather  than  with 
the  group.  Such  persons  are  mostly  in  need  of  understand- 
ing the  technique  of  social  work,  so  as  to  enable  them  to 
apply  it  in  working  out  the  individual  problems  they  are 
compelled  to  handle  from  day  to  day.  In  this  group  I  would 
place  visitors  for  charitable  societies,  subordinates  in  set- 
tlements, in  juvenile  courts,  and  similar  minor  positions. 
Of  course,  if  in  addition  to  this  they  have  a  comprehensive 
grasp  of  the  principles  of  applied  sociology  their  work  will 
be  more  successful.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  prime  essential 
for  the  subordinate  worker  is  an  understanding  of  technique 
and  the  ability  to  apply  it  successfully. 

The  leaders  of  social  work  on  the  other  hand  can  subordi- 
nate technique  to  an  understanding  of  the  social  problems 
that  are  involved.  The  men  and  women  who  organize  the 
community  and  promote  general  plans  for  the  welfare  of 
our  people  must  have  a  wide  grasp  of  the  nature  of  the 
problems  with  which  they  are  dealing;  they  must  them- 
selves be  democratic  and  ready  to  cooperate  with  others  for 
the  promotion  of  our  social  welfare.  They  must  have  a 
knowledge  of  technique  so  they  can  successfully  guide  and 
direct  their  subordinates,  but  their  greatest  contribution 
will  be  their  success  in  developing  the  efficiency  of  the  com- 
munity to  solve  its  own  problems.  These  broad  relations 
with  which  they  must  deal  require  a  vast  amount  of  pre- 
liminary training  and  insight  of  our  social  problems. 

The  work  of  our  professional  training  schools  is,  there- 
fore, divided  into  two  parts:  courses  of  instruction,  and 
practice  in  methods  of  social  work.  A  training  school  to  be 
successful  must  have  a  laboratory  in  which  the  field  work 
can  be  done.  Just  as  medical  schools  have  their  clinics,  law 
schools  their  courts,  so  must  the  school  for  social  work  have 
its  sociological  laboratory  where  practice  in  the  art  of  social 
work  can  be  carried  on.    Ck)urses  of  instruction  must  em- 


88  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

phasize  the  practical,  and  be  more  technical  in  their  nature 
than  in  our  colleges  and  universities.  With  the  principle  of 
action  must  go  the  method  of  organization  and  effort,  other- 
wise the  student  gains  the  abstract  knowledge  without  the 
ability  to  put  it  into  concrete  form.  Fundamental  prin- 
ciples, however,  both  in  economics  and  in  sociology  are 
necessary  in  order  to  ground  our  social  workers  properly  for 
the  development  of  their  plans  of  community  welfare.  We 
have  too  many  men  to-day  who  resemble  an  inverted  pyra- 
mid, and  whose  policies  and  efforts  are  likely  to  be  destroyed 
by  the  slightest  wind  that  blows.  They  have  not  built  on  a 
solid  foundation,  and  therefore  cannot  hope  to  be  perma- 
nently successful.  Too  many  social  workers  are  without 
adequate  economic  training,  and  are  therefore  unsafe 
guides.  Courses  in  problems  of  poverty  and  in  the  method 
and  technique  of  charity  organizations  are  fundamental  to 
our  work.  But  the  study  of  the  economics  of  labor  is  quite 
as  important,  and  lies  at  the  basis  of  our  living  and  social 
conditions.  The  city  as  a  social  agency  and  the  use  of  the 
city  government  for  community  effort  form  a  subject  of  ex- 
treme importance  to  the  social  worker,  because  of  the  pos- 
sibilities that  are  involved.  But  it  is  not  my  purpose  here 
to  outline  a  full  course  of  instruction ;  I  merely  want  to  say 
that  the  student  must  grasp  the  principle  that  our  social 
movements  are  interrelated,  and  that  the  community  and 
the  individual  react  on  each  other. 

The  technique  of  social  work  is  best  developed  in  connec- 
tion with  the  various  charitable  organization  societies.  It 
is  here  that  methods  of  investigation,  diagnosis,  treatment, 
and  family  rehabilitation  have  achieved  their  greatest  per- 
fection. It  is  in  connection  with  these  and  allied  organiza- 
tions that  the  worker  begins  to  understand  the  principles 
of  case  work  which  are  at  the  basis  of  all  constructive  ef- 
forts with  the  individual.  It  is  successful  case  work  that 
more  clearly  distinguishes  the  trained  social  worker  from 
his  untrained  coworker.  Differences  in  the  character  of 
other  work  are  often  slight.  But  as  long  as  it  is  necessary 
to  give  much  attention  to  the  individual  and  to  the  broken- 
down  family,  so  long  will  skill  in  the  handling  of  case  work 


THE  NEW  PROFESSION  OF  SOCIAL  SERVICE  89 

demand  a  large  share  of  time  in  the  training  of  men  and 
women  for  social  service. 

The  untrained  worker  frequently  fills  an  investigation 
with  opinions  and  not  with  facts,  with  snap  judgment  and 
not  with  maturely  considered  statements.  Training  is  the 
best  antidote  for  inferior  work  of  this  character.  Without 
the  broader  training  it  is  possible  for  the  worker  trained  in 
technique  to  do  successful  work  for  the  individual.  But  the 
task  of  relating  this  individual  work  to  the  welfare  of  all 
must  depend  upon  the  executive  head. 

Very  few  of  the  leaders  in  philanthropic  work  in  the 
United  States  have  had  the  advantage  of  professional  train- 
ing. Yet  practically  every  one  to-day  is  supporting  the  prin- 
ciple. It  is  because  such  men  realize  that  it  has  required 
years  of  observation  and  experience  to  perfect  them  in  their 
work  that  they  are  demanding  that  training  for  social  serv- 
ice be  systematized.  Our  self-made  men  are  not  wedded  to 
the  principle  of  the  self-made  man,  but  see  clearly  the  need 
of  professional  training.  The  leader  with  a  background 
for  his  work,  and  with  a  knowledge  of  the  technique  of 
philanthropy,  can  direct  and  improve  the  work  of  his  sub- 
ordinates and  can  greatly  lessen  their  mistakes.  My  ex- 
perience has  taught  me  to  feel  that  training  in  the  art  of 
investigation  or  of  research  adds  much  to  the  appreciation 
of  the  need  for  constructive  work.  A  wealth  of  informa- 
tion is  in  the  hands  of  every  philanthropic  organization,  and 
the  trained  leader  realizes  that  this  information  can  be  or- 
ganized to  throw  light  on  the  needs  of  his  organization  and 
can  be  used  to  develop  plans  for  permanent  work.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  untrained  leader  frequently  loses  himself 
in  a  mass  of  detail  without  appreciating  the  social  value  of 
the  information  at  his  disposal.  A  little  experience  and 
investigation  make  men  cautious  and  careful,  slow  to  jump 
at  conclusions,  and  conservative  in  the  application  of  reme- 
dies. The  man  who  has  developed  a  general  background 
for  his  work  in  the  field  of  social  service  can  more  easily 
pass  from  one  allied  field  to  another  because  he  can  soon 
work  out  a  background  for  his  newly  undertaken  work. 
Furthermore,  this  kind  of  man  has  a  capacity  for  apply- 


90         BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

ing  to  himself  and  his  organization  the  efficiency  tests  that 
are  necessary  to-day  to  determine  the  value  of  any  organi- 
zation or  society.  High  standards  of  work  can  be  main- 
tained only  when  men  know  what  constitutes  such  stand- 
ards; and  without  high  standards  it  is  not  possible  for  us 
to  make  the  progress  that  the  present-day  knowledge  of 
social  problems  demands. 

To  sum  up,  we  find  that  social  service  is  a  form  of  work 
that  is  differentiating  itself  from  every  other  profession.  It 
deals  with  the  improving  of  social  conditions  from  its  own 
standpoint ;  it  is  not  a  part  of  some  other  profession,  or  sub- 
ordinate to  any  profession,  and  is  not  the  outward  expres- 
sion of  the  task  of  some  particular  institution.  It  is  more 
than  that,  it  is  the  task  of  promoting  the  public  welfare. 
Men  and  women  can  be  fitted  for  this  task  by  observation 
and  experience,  but  they  can  be  best  and  most  easily  fitted 
by  preparing  themselves  systematically  for  social  service. 
They  thereby  gain  the  advantage  of  the  experience  and 
training  of  others,  and  do  not  compel  the  groups  with  which 
they  work  to  suffer  from  the  ignorance  of  the  untaught 
social  surgeon.  Furthermore,  we  have  seen  that  adequate 
training  requires  experience  in  method  and  technique,  and 
the  development  of  a  background  so  that  the  work  done  may 
not  only  be  properly  interrelated,  but  may  have  permanent 
value  for  the  promotion  of  social  welfare.  The  gain  is  but 
slight  if  our  philanthropy  means  nothing  more  than  reliev- 
ing distress  here  and  helping  a  family  there ;  the  permanent 
gain  comes  only  as  we  are  able  to  work  out  policies  that 
mean  the  permanent  improvement  of  social  conditions. 


PREPARING  MINISTERS  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  91 


THE  PREPARATION  OF  MINISTERS  FOR  SOCIAL 

SERVICE 

PROFESSOR  C.  S.  GARDNER,  D.D.,  LOUISVILLE,  KY. 

The  term  "minister"  means  servant.  The  minister  is 
a  servant  of  God ;  but  we  are  becoming  keenly  conscious  that 
it  is  fatal  to  religion  to  disconnect  the  service  of  God  from 
the  service  of  men.  When  we  declare,  therefore,  that  the 
ministry  is  a  form  of  social  service,  we  are  only  defining 
more  clearly  the  sphere  of  the  minister's  activity  and  re- 
sponsibility. His  ministry  is  a  service  of  men.  But  the 
term  "social"  contributes  an  additional  shade  of  meaning. 
The  "social"  life  of  a  man  means  his  life  as  it  is  connected 
with  and  conditioned  by  the  lives  of  his  fellows  in  a  net- 
work of  relations.  It  has  reference  to  all  phases  of  his  life 
as  a  unity;  for  we  must  remember  that  a  man  does  not 
realize  a  single  one  of  his  interests  apart  from  his  other 
interests,  nor  apart  from  his  relations  with  his  fellow  men. 
The  individual  life  is  a  more  or  less  thoroughly  unified  sys- 
tem of  interests  which  are  realized  in  a  system  of  social 
relationships  which  is  more  or  less  thoroughly  unified,  and 
every  single  factor  in  both  the  individual  and  the  collective 
systems  of  interests  reacts  upon  and  modifies  every  other. 
The  minister,  then,  is  the  servant  of  the  community, 
whether  the  community  be  regarded  distributively  as  an 
aggregation  of  individuals  or  collectively  as  an  organized 
unity.  This  means  that  his  particular  function  should  be 
performed  with  the  consciousness  that  it  has  an  important 
bearing  upon  every  individual  and  collective  interest.  I 
insist  upon  this.  If  by  the  minister's  social  service  is  meant 
a  side  line  of  activity  which  he  takes  up  in  addition  to  his 
regular  and  normal  business,  then  his  preparation  for  it 
will  mean  one  thing;  but  if  by  it  we  are  simply  giving  a 
definition  of  his  characteristic  work  in  social  terms,  his 
preparation  for  it  will  mean  another  thing.  I  am  using 
the  phrase  in  the  latter  sense.  When  "social  service"  is 
broadly  interpreted  and  his  function  is  broadly  understood. 


92  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

it  will  appear  that  social  service  is  his  normal  function  and 
not  an  addition  to  it.  If,  then,  the  minister's  work  is  to 
bring  his  distinctively  spiritual  message  to  men  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  it  a  stimulus  to  all  that  is  healthful  and 
constructive  in  the  community  life — and  this  is  without 
doubt  the  most  effective  social  service  he  can  possibly  ren- 
der— how  shall  he  best  be  prepared  for  it? 

It  goes  without  saying  that  he  should  be  led  into  a  broad 
intellectual  comprehension  and  emotional  appreciation  of 
the  spiritual  truth  which  constitutes  his  message.  His 
message  must  be  uttered  out  of  a  deep  personal  experience. 
It  should  be  deeply  rooted  both  in  his  heart  and  in  his  head. 
But  it  is  of  equal  importance  that  he  both  see  and  feel  the 
relation  of  the  spiritual  life,  which  he  seeks  to  cultivate,  to 
all  the  other  interests  and  activities  of  the  people.  Otherwise 
the  message  will  be  lacking  in  vitality.  It  will  not  connect 
with  life ;  it  will  not  grip. 

I  should  say,  then,  that  along  with  his  specifically  theo- 
logical studies  his  adequate  preparation  involves — 

1.  A  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  theory  of  society. 
Let  us  not  shy  at  the  word  "theory."  A  theory  of  anything 
is  nothing  but  a  clearly  thought-out  syste/natic  correlation 
of  human  experience  in  a  given  field.  It  is  true  that  a 
wrong  theory  in  any  sphere  of  interest  will  lead  astray  in 
practical  endeavor;  but  that  does  not  argue  against  theory, 
but  only  in  favor  of  a  correct  theory,  for  this  will  always 
prove  a  guide  to  the  most  effective  methods  and  the  most 
satisfactory  results.  Our  ministers  need  training  in  social 
science.  If  the  physician  needs  to  know  the  science  of 
Biology  and  Physiology,  just  as  much  do  the  minister  and 
every  social  worker  need  thorough  instruction  in  Psy- 
chology and  Sociology.  The  unscientific  empiricist  in  medi- 
cine is  discredited  in  all  advanced  communities.  But  we 
have  many  men  and  women  of  that  stamp  who  are  under- 
taking to  doctor  the  sick  social  body — an  organism  of  such 
vast  complexity  and  of  such  a  delicate  adjustment  of  forces 
and  functions  that  a  proper  understanding  of  it  taxes  the 
resources  of  the  most  richly  endowed  and  highly  cultivated 
intelligence.    I  venture  to  say  that  unintelligent  empricism 


PREPARING  MINISTERS  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  93 

is  the  bane  of  social  reform.  Every  "clodhopper"  you  meet 
thinks  he  knows  all  about  what  is  the  matter  with  society 
and  that  he  can  prescribe  an  infallible  remedy  for  its  ills. 
He  judges  the  whole  social  situation  by  some  crude  generali- 
zation from  his  narrow  personal  experience.  But  he  is 
really  far  less  able  to  interpret  properly  his  own  social  ex- 
perience than  he  would  be  to  diagnose  correctly  his  own 
case  in  a  serious  complication  of  diseases.  The  latter  would 
by  no  means  require  the  knowledge  of  such  a  multitude  of 
subtle  interacting  forces.  Yes,  the  social  servant  should 
come  to  his  task  equipped  with  all  that  social  science  can 
give  him.  Otherwise  he  must  surely  grope  and  fumble  and 
stumble  in  the  midst  of  problems  of  the  most  delicate  and 
difficult  kinds.  Nothing  but  absolute  genius  could  save  him 
from  hurtful  mistakes. 

I  know  that  many  people  are  not  willing  to  admit  that 
there  is  a  science  of  Sociology.  It  is  useless  to  consume  time 
debating  that  question.  Of  course,  there  is  not  a  completed 
science  of  society.  It  is  the  newest  and  most  incomplete  of 
the  sciences.  But  there  is  no  completed  science  of  anything 
— not  even  Mathematics.  Astronomy,  after  all  these  cen- 
turies, is  incomplete;  so  are  Geology,  Physics,  Chemistry, 
Biology,  Psychology.  And  if  in  the  realm  of  social  phe- 
nomena the  results  of  investigation  are  just  beginning  to 
be  correlated  into  a  system  of  knowledge  generally  accepted, 
that  does  not  argue  that  we  should  ignore  what  has  been 
done,  but  only  stresses  the  need  for  all  social  workers  to 
avail  themselves  of  it  and  contribute  something  toward  its 
completion — in  a  word,  to  go  about  their  work  with  the  best 
possible  scientific  preparation  and  in  the  genuinely  scien- 
tific spirit.  But  we  should  not  underestimate  what  has  been 
achieved  in  this  field  of  study.  Much  has  been  accom- 
plished;  and  it  is  extremely  shortsighted  not  to  insist  that 
our  ministers  should  acquaint  themselves  with  the  body  of 
knowledge  already  worked  out,  and  utilize  it  in  the  adapta- 
tion of  their  message. 

But  it  is  helpful  not  only  in  the  adaptation  of  their  mes- 
sage. I  make  bold  to  say  that  it  is  essential  to  the  proper 
comprehension  of  their  message.    Time  forbids  me  to  go  far 


94  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

into  this  aspect  of  the  matter.  The  proposition  will  prob- 
ably be  disputed.  But  surely  we  have  come  now  to  see  that 
the  Bible  is  a  collection  of  books  which  were  written  at 
widely  separated  points  of  time;  that  each  book  embodies 
the  presuppositions  and  points  of  view,  the  mental  char- 
acteristics, of  its  particular  period;  and  that  these  presup- 
positions and  points  of  view,  or  mental  atmospheres,  can 
be  adequately  understood  only  as  related  to  the  various 
social  conditions  of  these  periods.  This  is  not  to  deny  the 
inspiration  of  this  literature ;  but  is  only  to  affirm  that  this 
divine  inspiration  was  intended  to  impart  revelations  to 
these  several  generations  of  men — which  it  could  not  have 
done  if  it  had  not  given  them  messages  in  the  terms  of  their 
own  life.  Revelation  is  necessarily  conditioned  by  social 
experience,  and  the  science  which  gives  us  a  deeper  insight 
into  that  experience  also  helps  us  to  understand  that  revela- 
tion better. 

Not  only  is  the  Revelation  which  it  is  the  preacher's 
business  to  interpret  conditioned  by  social  experience,  but 
so  are  theological  systems  and  ecclesiastical  polities.  The 
minister,  therefore,  should  not  only  be  trained  in  Sociology, 
but  all  his  theological  instruction  should  be  given  from  the 
sociological  point  of  view.  All  his  studies  should  have  the 
sociological  background.  In  this  way  he  will  form  the  habit 
of  looking  at  religious  truth  always  in  its  relation  to  the 
total  life  of  man.  His  theology  will  be  vitalized  and  his 
spirit  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  will  be  socialized. 

2.  He  should  have  the  practical  acquaintance  with  con- 
crete social  situations  which  comes  from  actual  experience 
in  dealing  with  them.  If  theory  is  needed  to  give  a  man 
breadth  of  view  and  enable  him  to  see  facts  in  their  proper 
perspective  and  broader  relations,  practical  acquaintance 
with  specific  conditions  is  necessary  to  keep  theory  in  touch 
with  reality.  Your  theory  may  have  its  head  among  the 
stars,  for  its  outlook  must  have  a  world-scope;  but  its  feet 
should  always  be  flat  upon  the  ground,  for  the  people  to  be 
helped  by  it  are  not  treading  the  Milky  Way,  but  the  com- 
mon paths  of  the  plain  old  earth.  The  theory  should  at 
once  illuminate  the  facts  and  be  tested  and  corrected  by 
them. 


PREPARING  MINISTERS  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  95 

The  preacher  whose  vision  has  been  at  once  lengthened 
and  broadened  by  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  social  de- 
velopment of  man  is  prepared  to  give  himself  to  the  inten- 
sive study  of  specific  social  conditions  with  the  best  possible 
results.  In  this  connection  the  wise  advice  of  Graham  Tay- 
lor is  worthy  of  mention :  "It  is  better  to  visit  one  family 
sixteen  times  than  to  visit  sixteen  families  one  time."  Let 
the  preacher,  for  instance,  focus  his  attention  upon  a  given 
family.  He  will  study  that  family  in  its  individuality,  in 
the  peculiarities  of  character  and  circumstance  that  differ- 
entiate it  from  all  others ;  but  if  he  has  been  given  the  scien- 
tific point  of  view  he  can  never  contemplate  it  as  a  separate 
and  unrelated  phenomenon ;  he  will  see  in  that  family  group 
a  point  in  which  converge  many  lines  of  influence  from  the 
past  and  the  present  environment.  The  sure  presumption 
is  that  he  will  understand  it  more  completely,  and  it  is 
equally  probable  that  new  light  will  be  thrown  upon  the 
general  conditions  which  are  here  concretely  exemplified. 
The  net  result  will  be  that  he  will  deal  with  the  family  more 
helpfully — that  is,  more  constructively — and  that  when  he 
has  occasion  to  bring  his  influence  to  bear  upon  the  general 
situation  he  will  do  it  with  a  more  practical  and  more  states- 
manlike grasp  of  all  the  factors  involved.  The  same  is  true 
if  he  should  concentrate  his  attention  upon  some  specific 
moral  problem  in  his  community — ^as,  for  instance,  the 
amusement  question.  Few  practical  concerns  of  life  have 
in  the  past  been  more  unintelligently  or  ineffectively  handled 
by  ministers.  To  the  consideration  of  this  matter  it  is  im- 
portant that  he  bring  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the 
general  conditions  of  life,  and  also  a  close  practical  acquaint- 
ance with  the  facts  of  the  local  situation.  And  so  on 
throughout  the  range  of  the  practical  matters  into  relation 
with  which  he  should  bring  his  ministry.  My  observation 
is  that  preachers,  as  «^  rule,  in  their  handling  of  such  mat- 
ters have  been  exposed  to  the  adverse  criticism  of  the  scien- 
tifically trained  men  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  practical  men 
of  the  world  on  the  other.  And  while  these  criticisms  are 
not  always  just  nor  always  prompted  by  the  best  motives 
they  are  also  often  well  founded,  because  preachers  have  so 


96  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

often  been  wanting  both  in  the  scientific  grasp  and  the  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  facts. 

The  minister,  then,  should  be  trained  not  only  in  social 
theory,  but  in  social  practice;  and  it  is  my  judgment  that 
both  scientific  and  practical  training  should  be  conducted 
by  our  theological  schools,  unless  the  student  has  received 
ample  discipline  along  both  lines  before  his  strictly  pro- 
fessional education  begins;  and  even  then  the  theological 
seminary  should  take  particular  pains  to  correlate  his  socio- 
logical with  his  theological  point  of  view. 

But  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  minister's  most 
effective  social  service  will  not  be  his  immediate  individual 
efforts  in  constructive  social  programs,  but  will  be  to  teach 
those  who  sit  under  his  ministry  a  new  and  larger  conception 
of  religious  work  and  to  inspire  them  to  struggle  for  this 
new  and  finer  ideal. 

If  we  survey  church  life  to-day,  a  curious  and  unfor- 
tunate situation  strikes  us.  Thousands  of  church  members 
— a  majority  of  them,  according  to  the  testimony  of  pastors 
— are  "idle" — i.  e.,  are  not  engaged  in  religious  work.  But 
what  exactly  is  meant  by  "religious  work"?  Without  try- 
ing to  give  a  precise  definition  of  this  phrase,  which  is  some- 
what indefinite  in  significance,  we  can  safely  say  that  its 
customary  use  does  not  include  the  ordinary  occupations  of 
life — ^the  sowing  and  reaping,  the  manufacturing  and  trans- 
porting, the  buying  and  selling,  etc.  All  these  are  "sec- 
ular" activities;  they  lie  outside  the  sphere  of  religion 
and  are  carried  on  under  the  impulsion  of  non-religious 
motives,  although  they  consume  and  rmist  consume  nine- 
tenths  of  the  time  and  energies  of  those  who  have,  as  the 
phrase  goes,  "given  themselves  wholly  to  God."  Is  this  not 
an  anomalous  situation?  I  submit  that  there  is  something 
incongruous,  if  not  absurd,  in  speaking  of  a  life  as  "Chris- 
tianized" so  long  as  nine-tenths  of  its  time  and  energy  are  ex- 
pended in  forms  of  work  which  are  non-religious  and  under 
the  control  of  self-seeking  motives.  According  to  the  multi- 
plication table,  that  life  is  one-tenth  Christianized — if  that 
means  anything  at  all.  The  minister,  then,  ought  to  teach 
his  pepole  that  all  work  should  be  religious.     He  ought  to 


PREPARING  MINISTERS  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  97 

stand  with  all  his  influence  for  such  a  recasting  of  our 
>vhole  conception  of  life  as  will  bring  all  the  occupational 
activities  under  the  sway  of  religious  motives,  so  that  in 
those  activities  a  man  will  be  consciously  aiming  at  the 
highest  ethical  ends.  A  conception  of  life  that  is  at  once 
sociological  and  religious  requires  nothing  short  of  this. 

But  leaving  aside  the  larger  problem  of  setting  ethical 
ends  for  the  so-called  secular  occupations,  we  confront  the 
astonishing  situation  that  ordinarily  ministers  and  churches 
do  not  consider  social  uplift  movements  as  religious  work. 
The  struggle  to  stop  the  wholesale  industrial  "slaughter  of 
the  innocents" —  the  darkest  curse  that  rests  upon  our  mod- 
em civilization — is  not  "religious"  work.  The  effort  to 
secure  economic  justice  for  the  workingmen,  to  enthrone 
elementary  morality  over  the  processes  of  industrial  civili- 
zation and  thus  open  the  way  before  millions  of  men  for 
higher  personal  development — this  is  not  "religious"  work. 
The  splendid  enterprise  of  the  social  settlements — ^those 
lighthouses  erected  in  the  drear  darkness  of  our  tenement 
and  slum  districts — is  not  "religious."  And  so  with  multi- 
tudinous forms  of  social  effort,  preventive  and  redemptive, 
which  certainly  are  glorious  exhibitions  of  the  self-trans- 
cending idealism  of  our  age.  Why  do  we  not  positively 
include  them  within  our  definition  of  religious  work  ?  Why 
do  not  our  churches  call  their  members  to  participation  in 
such  efforts  as  a  duty  devolving  upon  them  in  their  charac- 
ter as  church  members?  Why  not  put  behind  these  move- 
ments the  mighty  dynamic  of  that  motive  which  sent  the 
early  Christians  with  invincible  courage  and  "tongues  of 
fire"  into  every  center  of  population  in  the  Roman  Empire 
— "the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  me"?  Would  it  not  be 
possible  to  inspire  many  "idle"  thousands  in  the  churches 
to  take  up  religious  work,  if  the  minister  could  make  them 
see  and  feel  that  in  doing  these  things  they  would  be  serv- 
ing Christ  and  helping  onward  toward  its  realization  the 
kingdom  of  God?  We  cannot  blink  the  fact  that  many  of 
these  religious  idlers  are  inactive  and  indifferent  because 
those  forms  of  work  which  are  technically  known  as  "re- 
ligious" do  not  appeal  to  them  as  hearing  effectively  upon 
7 


98  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

the  real  needs  of  life.  To  inculcate  this  larger  conception 
the  minister  himself  must  be  taught  to  see  in  religious 
work  something  more  than  a  narrow,  non-social  evangelism 
which  has  sole  reference  to  a  post-mortem  salvation;  and 
to  make  his  evangelistic  appeal  a  distinct  call  to  service  in 
building  the  kingdom  of  God  in  time.  He  would  probably 
find  that,  in  thus  enlarging  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  "re- 
ligious work,"  and  broadening  the  social  consciousness  of 
his  parishioners,  he  would  put  into  his  evangelistic  appeal 
exactly  that  note  which  would  catch  and  hold  the  attention 
of  the  irreligious  multitude,  who  now  are  so  strangely  and 
disconcertingly  indifferent  to  his  call,  and  make  the  Church 
again  what  it  was  in  olden  time,  the  supreme  agency 
through  which  the  ethical  enthusiasm  of  men  may  be  organ- 
ized and  directed. 


THE  PREPARATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  FOR  SOCIAL 

SERVICE 

REV.  CHARLES  S.  MACFARLAND,  D.D.,  GENERAL  SECRETARY  OF 

THE  FEDERAL  COUNCIL  OF  THE  CHURCHES  OF  CHRIST 

IN   AMERICA,   NEW  YORK   CITY 

There  was  something  in  the  picture  which  attracted, 
fascinated,  and  yet  baffled  the  imagination.  Again  and 
again,  in  visiting  the  beautiful  city  of  Dresden,  I  found  my- 
self wending  my  way  to  the  studio  of  the  German  artist 
to  study  his  painting.  I  mean  the  picture  so  familiar  to  us 
all,  by  the  hand  of  Hof  mann,  of  Jesus  and  the  Sinful  Woman. 
One  day  the  background  of  the  picture  was  suddenly  re- 
vealed and  I  understood  the  thought  of  the  painter.  The 
meaning  of  the  picture  is  expressed  in  the  attitude  of  the 
Master.  While  he  seems  also  to  be  looking  down  at  the 
woman,  the  artist  has  given  to  the  countenance  of  Jesus  an 
upward  look.  It  is  a  look  of  severity  for  Pharisee  and 
Scribe,  mingled  with  patience;  for  the  woman  it  is  won- 
drously  expressive  of  both  sympathy  and  intercession.    The 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  99 

other  element  in  the  attitude  of  Jesus  which  gives  the  mean- 
ing of  the  picture,  is  the  hand  of  the  Master,  which  is 
stretched  downward  toward  the  sinful  woman  on  her  knees. 
And  as  I  thus  saw  and  felt  the  interpretation  of  the  scene 
I  turned  to  the  gruff  old  German  artist  and  said :  "Mr.  Hof- 
mann,  I  should  like  to  give  a  name  to  your  picture  and  make 
it  a  parable  of  the  Christian  Church;  and  if  I  could  name 
the  picture,  I  should  call  it  'The  Upward  Look  and  the 
Downward  Reach.' " 

We  have  been  discovering,  in  the  world  of  science,  the 
wide  operation  of  the  law  known  as  the  survival  of  the 
fittest.  We  are  also  discovering  in  the  world  of  religion, 
or  rather  we  are  rediscovering,  another  law  which  was  the 
law  of  Jesus,  the  survival  of  the  fittest  for  the  sake  of  the 
unfit  and  the  unfittest. 

One  of  the  great  beauties  of  nature  is  her  mingling  of 
things  unlike  each  other,  each  serving  the  other's  needs. 
The  natural  order  is  not  like  a  scientific  showcase  or  like 
a  library  of  well-ordered  books.  This  universal  order,  since 
the  stars  sang  their  morning  song  together,  has  been  the 
blending  of  a  multitude  of  things  which,  in  our  human 
knowledge  of  them,  we  have  set  apart.  Nature  consists 
thus  of  unity  in  diversity.  Her  divided  and  subdivided 
kingdoms  exist  only  in  the  thought  of  man.  She  is  not  like 
our  human  life,  marked  off  into  its  social  and  racial  and 
political  states  with  their  boundaries  and  barriers.  Her 
various  systems  pervade  and  penetrate  each  other.  They 
live  upon  and  by  one  another. 

In  our  human  order  also,  when  we  live  its  freest,  fullest, 
and  most  natural  life,  we  do  not  gather  ourselves  together 
so  much  upon  the  basis  of  similarity  as  that  of  unlikeness. 
The  family  is  the  highest  type  of  our  mutual  human  life 
and  it  is  a  bringing  together  of  the  unlike  and  opposite 
— ^the  gentle  woman  and  the  strong  man,  the  little  child  and 
the  great  father,  the  brother  and  the  sister.  There  are 
striking  likenesses  of  feature  and  of  temperament,  but  these 
are  no  more  marked  than  the  elements  of  unlikeness. 

When,  however,  we  pass  out  from  this  natural  social 
order  of  God  into  the  realm  of  our  artificial  human  associa- 


100  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

tions,  we  find  that  this  divine  law  is  everywhere  perverted 
and  repressed.  In  God's  order  it  is  the  unity  of  unlike- 
ness.  Man's  disposition  is  to  bring  things  together  by 
similarities.  The  one  completes  the  defect  by  some  com- 
pensation and  gives  a  real  and  final  unity.  The  other  takes 
one  small  portion,  multiplies  it  by  itself,  and  issues  in  a 
system  of  inharmonious  exaggerations,  so  that  to  him  that 
hath  much  more  is  given,  and  from  him  that  hath  not  is 
taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath. 

It  is  true  of  all  of  us.  If  we  are  going  to  give  something 
to  the  rich,  we  must  give  a  rich  gift;  to  the  poor  we  give 
the  poorer  gift.  We  praise  those  who  are  praised  and  we 
condemn  those  who  are  condemned.  Thus  it  has  been  the 
tendency  of  our  human  blindness  and  error  to  unite  the 
like  and  to  separate  the  unlike.  We  have  largely  ordered 
the  world,  not  in  complementary  groups,  but  by  a  cold 
analysis  into  classes,  so  that  each  man,  instead  of  living  in 
the  world,  lives  with  his  own  little  class.  Here  he  finds  his 
own  ways  of  doing  things  repeated,  his  particular  tastes 
are  met,  the  limited  judgments  of  his  little  mind  are  con- 
formed to,  and  his  words  stand  for  wisdom  among  those 
who  speak  like  him. 

Society  has  been  largely  formed  after  the  classification 
of  a  schoolroom  rather  than  like  the  organism  of  a  family. 
Test  this  by  the  population  of  the  city  in  which  we  live,  by 
its  rigid  segregation  of  race  and  station.  Witness  it  in  our 
commercial  life,  with  the  barons  of  industry  about  the  hotel 
table,  while  the  sons  of  toil  meet  in  their  dingy  hall.  Apply 
it  to  the  professions,  to  the  calling  of  the  ministry,  and 
note  how  we  classify  men,  and  to  our  churches  in  which 
we  often  say:  "Our  church  does  not  have  that  class  of 
people."  We  are  ever  estimating  men,  not  vertically,  but 
horizontally. 

It  is  true  that  this  principle  is  not  altogether  bad.  It 
would  not  be  bad  at  all,  if  it  were  not  carried  too  far.  Our 
deep  mutual  sympathies  uplift  us  in  common  and  invigorate 
the  will  and  purpose.  The  trouble  is  that,  in  proceeding 
along  the  lines  of  these  classifications,  we  have  depreciated 
the  finer  graces  of  human  life  and  have  impaired  its  af- 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  101 

fections,  so  that  everywhere  upon  the  face  of  its  sympathy 
is  written  the  commercial  title  "limited."  In  it  there  is 
more  of  self-will  than  of  pity,  more  of  the  law  of  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  than  of  Jesus's  larger  law  by  which  the 
strong  are  to  sustain  the  weak.  We  are  the  schoolroom 
with  its  childish  method,  which  never  should  have  been  its 
method,  of  the  boy  at  the  head  of  the  class  and  the  other 
at  the  foot,  when  perhaps  the  first  ought  to  have  been  last 
and  the  last  first. 

Our  tendency  has  gone  all  too  far  to  find  our  equals  and 
to  associate  with  them ;  the  weak  with  the  weak,  the  strong 
with  the  strong,  rich  with  rich,  poor  with  poor,  the  cultured 
with  the  cultured,  the  uncultured  with  the  uncultured,  the 
wise  together  with  the  wise  and  the  ignorant  with  the 
ignorant.  With  a  still  lower  aim  and  motive,  we  like  to 
talk  with  those  who  think  as  we  do  and  who  applaud  our 
knowledge.  We  read  the  books  that  meet  our  tastes  or 
justify  our  opinions  and  confirm  our  ideas  and  conceptions. 
We  go  to  hear  the  preachers  who  echo  our  own  notions  and 
the  tenor  of  whose  words  is  to  confirm  us  in  self-satis- 
faction. 

We  resent  those  who  stand  over  in  contrast  to  us  and 
again  and  again  we  assume  the  contemptuous  attitude  of 
the  Scribes,  "These  people  that  know  not  the  law  which  I 
know  are  accursed."  Thus  we  fall  into  a  dwarfing  egoism. 
We  become  in  our  self-satisfaction  very  near  to  the  classic 
man  who  talked  to  himself,  as  he  said,  first  because  he  liked 
to  talk  to  a  sensible  man,  and  secondly  because  he  liked  to 
hear  a  sensible  man  talk.  Our  little  narrow  world  reflects 
our  little  narrow  self,  or  at  best  the  class  in  which  we  have 
been  disposed. 

We  have  thus  destroyed  the  family  idea  of  nature  and 
have  substituted  for  it  a  well-ordered  set  of  classes  with  the 
poor  dullards  to  keep  misery  company,  while  the  brilliant 
shine  in  their  mutually  reflected  splendor  and  become,  un- 
known to  themselves,  a  society  for  a  mutual  admiration. 
The  result  is  that  life  has  fallen  largely  into  the  order  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest ;  to  him  that  hath  is  given,  from 
him  that  hath  not  is  taken  away ;  the  weak  become  weaker 


102  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

and  the  strong  stronger.  The  great  commotion  in  the  social 
order  of  our  day  and  generation  is  the  effort  to  change  this 
current  into  the  splendid  order  of  democracy. 

Even  the  Christian  Church  has  become  selective.  We  call 
it  the  school  of  religion,  and  yet  sometimes  it  is  like  a  school 
into  which  no  one  can  go  without  first  gaining  knowledge. 
We  call  it  a  hospital,  and  yet  we  create  the  impression 
among  men  that  it  is  a  hospital  into  which  only  well  people 
are  admitted. 

Yet  nothing  opposes  this  classification  but  religion. 
Knowledge  does  not  do  it,  because  we  classify  ourselves 
upon  the  basis  of  its  attainment.  Morals  do  not  do  this 
work,  because,  as  in  our  churches,  we  have  sought  to  classify 
ourselves  upon  this  basis.  We  permit  our  very  personal 
integrity  to  dwarf  and  limit  our  human  sympathy  and  even 
a  falsely  so-called  religion  has  been  thus  misused. 

The  law  which  we  are  trying  to  discover  was  expressed 
very  beautifully  twenty  centuries  ago :  "We  then  that  are 
strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  not 
to  please  ourselves,  for  even  Christ  pleased  not  himself." 
The  one  serene  force  that  makes  for  the  new  order  is  the 
faith  of  Jesus,  which  has  been  put  in  this  striking  language 
by  his  apostle:  "We  then  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear 
the  infirmities  of  the  weak."  In  these  words  we  have  what 
we  might  call  the  law  of  the  attraction  of  the  dissimilar. 
The  two  Greek  words  used  might  be  translated  "mighty" 
and  "decrepit."  The  purpose  of  Jesus  was  to  change  the 
order  of  civilization  into  the  similitude  of  the  family.  This 
was  the  meaning  of  the  new  word  which  he  gave  for  God, 
the  word  "Father." 

This,  however,  has  not  been  the  way  in  which  disciple- 
ship  to  him,  as  revealed  in  the  Church,  has  been  carried 
out.  His  Church  has  followed  too  far  the  law  of  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest.  He  maintained  that  the  experience  of 
discipleship  with  him  should  mean  the  vanishing  of  the  burn- 
ing glow  of  self-reliance  into  the  softer  light  of  trust.  He 
opens  before  us  not  one  world,  but  two  worlds,  the  world 
above  us  with  its  light  shining  upon  the  world  beneath  us. 
We  are,  as  it  were,  suspended  between  them  with  a  higher 
existence  to  attain  and  the  lower  existence  to  assist. 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  103 

The  first  element,  and  the  ever-abiding  element  in  the 
j)reparation  of  the  Church  for  social  service,  is  this  vision 
of  discipleship.  In  Jesus  aspiration  and  sympathy  meet  to- 
gether. These  are  the  two  attitudes  of  Christian  living,  the 
attitudes  of  Jesus  in  Hofmann's  famous  picture,  the  up- 
ward look  and  the  downward  reach.  We  should  have  both. 
We  must  be  strong  in  admiration  of  the  lofty  as  well  as 
full  of  piety  for  the  lowly.  Some  great  German  philosopher 
is  said  to  have  defined  religion  as  "reverence  for  inferior 
beings."  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  results  of  true  religion, 
and  whether  good  philosophy  or  not,  it  is  the  very  thought 
of  Jesus. 

Each  attitude  must  be  maintained  and  neither  yielded 
to  the  other.  The  duty  of  Christians  is  both  to  visit  the 
fatherless  and  widows  and  to  keep  themselves  unspotted 
from  the  world.  They  must  keep  strong  themselves,  in 
order  that  they  may  become  the  strength  of  the  weak.  It  is 
too  bad  to  see  culture  without  service,  but  it  is  just  as  sad 
to  witness  service  without  culture.  Indeed  we  have  to-day, 
in  our  great  social  movements,  too  many  men  who  have 
the  downward  reach  without  the  upward  look,  and  they  are 
thus  blind  leaders  of  the  blind.  To  evade  and  despise  the 
knowledge  which  is  greater  than  our  own,  the  vision  that 
is  larger,  the  aim  that  is  higher,  may  be  as  bad  as  to  lose 
our  sympathy  and  tenderness.  To  stifle  aspiration  is  as 
harmful  as  to  repress  compassion  and  to  dwarf  our  faith 
as  to  lose  our  sympathetic  touch.  We  cannot  feed  the  fires 
of  human  life  from  its  own  fuel.  The  downward  reach  may 
mean  the  depression  of  hope,  without  the  upward  look.  Sym- 
pathy with  human  needs  is  vain  without  communion  with 
divine  grace.  He  who  would  bring  the  light  of  the  world 
to  the  darkness  of  man  must  possess  the  riches  of  God  as 
well  as  witness  the  poverty  of  the  race.  There  can  be  no 
nether  springs  of  service  without  the  upper  springs  of  in- 
spiration. None  of  us  can  uplift  even  himself,  how  much 
less  can  he  uplift  others.  Thus  every  one  of  us  stands  be- 
tween the  appeal  of  the  things  above  him  and  of  those  be- 
neath him,  between  the  human  reality  and  the  divine  ideal, 
between  the  discipline  of  duty  and  the  peace  of  faith.    They 


104  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

tell  US  that  in  the  ministry  for  to-day  we  need  "men  of  the 
world."  That  is  true,  but  they  must  be  spiritually  minded 
men  of  the  world. 

The  great  Gentile  apostle  declared  that  every  man  in 
Christ  was  a  "new  creature."  Most  of  us. have  gone  only  a 
little  way.  We  are  still  followers  of  temperament;  the 
slaves  of  taste  and  tendency,  the  victims  of  environment. 
If  we  have  tried  to  do  the  one  duty,  we  have  left  the  other 
undone,  have  sought  to  gain  the  upward  look,  but  have 
failed  to  witness  the  infinite  vision,  because  our  horizon  is 
bounded  by  our  own  narrow  sympathies  and  our  grudging 
self-denial.  Such  men  were  the  Pharisees  of  Jesus's  day. 
They  could  not  see  his  face  because  its  light  radiated  over 
the  expanse  of  too  large  a  human  world.  Then,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  was  the  opposite  class,  the  Zealots,  the 
Essenes,  busy  with  their  plans  for  the  salvation  of  the 
chosen  people,  so  lost  in  them  that  they  did  not  witness  the 
kingdom,  though  it  stood  in  their  very  midst.  It  is  sad  to 
see  men  and  women,  in  religion,  trying  to  save  themselves 
and  forgetting  all  the  rest  of  the  world  except  perhaps 
their  own  charmed  and  chosen  circle,  or  losing  sight  of  the 
man  himself  in  their  search  for  his  soul.  It  is  just  as  sad 
to  find  men  trying  to  save  the  world  without  any  vision  be- 
yond their  own  horizon  and  with  no  strength  stronger  than 
their  own. 

Let  us  look  again  at  the  picture  of  the  Master.  His  pic- 
ture is  always  thus,  with  the  upward  look  and  the  down- 
ward reach.  Sometimes  he  communes  with  the  best-beloved 
disciple,  the  saintly  John,  at  other  times  with  the  multitude. 
He  passes  from  the  presence  of  God  in  Gethsemane  to  the 
companionship  of  Judas.  He  is  always  blending  knowledge 
and  love,  aspiration  and  ssmipathy,  truth  and  love,  strength 
and  duty,  righteousness  and  pity,  virtue  and  charity,  cul- 
ture and  service.  The  very  last  moments  on  the  Cross  bear 
witness  to  it.  "Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sabachthani."  "Father,  into 
thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  There  was  the  upward 
look.  "Son,  behold  thy  mother!"  "Father,  forgive  them; 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  There  was  the  downward 
reach. 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  105 

"And  not  to  please  ourselves."  Ah,  but  that  is  what  we 
jdo.  We  intend  to  please  ourselves.  God's  law  for  us  is  that 
of  an  affectionate,  sympathetic  conformity  to  our  human 
environment.  We  constantly  transgress  it  and  try  to  con- 
form our  human  environment  to  meet  our  tastes,  to  suit 
our  tempers,  to  minister  to  our  own  selfish  desires.  God 
meant  that  our  environment  should  embrace  humanity.  We 
have  narrowed  it  down  to  our  own  little  group.  "Even  Christ 
pleased  not  himself."  "We  then  that  are  strong  should 
bear  the  infirmities  of  them  that  are  weak."  "They  that 
are  strong;"  there  is  the  upward  look.  "The  infirmities  of 
the  weak ;"  there  is  the  downward  reach. 

So  people  sometimes  ask  us,  "What  is  the  task  of  the 
Church?"  "Is  it  spiritual  culture  or  social  service?"  Watch 
Jesus.  Where  do  you  find  him?  Sometimes  you  catch  a 
glimpse  of  him  on  the  mountain  side  at  midnight  in  prayer, 
but  the  next  moment  you  see  him  down  upon  the  dusty  high- 
way of  our  human  life. 

They  tell  us  we  must  "preach  the  cross."  We  have 
magnified  the  cross,  we  have  put  it  on  top  of  our  church 
spires,  we  have  enshrined  it  in  art  for  ages,  we  have  put  it 
in  the  center  of  our  theologies,  and  have  many  times  made 
it  the  subject  of  our  bitterest  quarrels  and  hatreds.  And 
yet  when  I  read  the  Bible  I  find  that  Jesus  said  nothing 
about  putting  the  cross  on  the  summits  of  our  churches, 
nothing  about  enshrining  it  in  art.  I  am  sure  he  said  noth- 
ing about  making  it  the  object  of  our  philosophic  con- 
troversy; but  he  said  one  thing  about  the  cross,  and  that 
is  the  one  thing  we  have  not  followed:  he  said  something 
about  carrying  the  cross. 

Men  ask,  "Is  the  Church  responsible  for  the  wrongs,  the 
Injustices,  the  inhumanities  of  industry?"  The  only  time, 
perhaps,  when  Jesus  declared  the  moral  determinance  of 
human  destiny  was  in  the  severe  and  searching  utterance 
in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew:  "Inasmuch  as  ye 
did  it" — or  "as  ye  did  it  not" — "to  one  of  these  my  brethren 
ye  did  it"— or  "ye  did  it  not"— "to  me."  We  read  the  latest 
word  from  the  Bureau  of  Labor:  of  thirty-five  thousand 
men  killed,  of  two  million  injured  in  one  year  in  industry, 


106  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

a  large  proportion  by  preventable  disasters,  and  we  say,  as 
we  read  the  chapter,  two  million  and  thirty-five  thousand 
"of  these."  In  the  factory,  with  its  five  hundred  little  chil- 
dren with  less  glow  upon  their  cheeks  than  that  which 
flashes  among  the  machinery  of  which  they  are  but  a  part, 
five  hundred  "of  these  little  ones."  In  one  industry,  in  one 
little  town,  five  thousand  "of  these  my  brethren"  working 
twelve  hours  a  day  and  sometimes  more,  seven  days  every 
week.  The  choice  of  the  Christian  Church  and  of  her  Chris- 
tian laymen  is  becoming  clearer  and  clearer.  She  must 
either  make  it  or  else  say  frankly,  "The  Sabbath  was  not 
made  for  men."  "How  much  is  a  man  better  than  a  sheep?" 
No  better.  It  is  God  or  Mammon,  the  philosopy  of  Fred- 
erich  Nietzsche  or  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  Barabbas  or 
Christ.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  throw  the  light  of 
the  gospel  upon  these  human  wrongs,  or  else  she  must  re- 
vise her  gospel.  She  must  do  it  or  else  replace  her  Master 
for  an  industrial  Herod  who  claims  her  little  children.  She 
must  do  it  or  else  find  some  new  higher  critics  to  cut  out 
much  of  her  Master's  gospel. 

This,  then,  is  the  sovereign  element  in  the  task  of  prep- 
aration for  social  service — ^to  make  clear  to  our  confused 
congregations  the  eternal  relation  between  religious  devo- 
tion and  human  impulse,  the  moral  identity  of  spiritual 
life  and  social  passion.  The  task  of  our  leaders  of  social 
movements  is  to  bring  to  expression  the  human  heart  with- 
in the  Church.  The  task  of  the  Church  is  to  put  a  divine 
soul  into  our  social  movements. 

It  needs  to  be  made  clear  to  the  Church  that  we  are  not 
confusing  the  kingdom  of  heaven  with  an  economic  state  of 
equilibrium,  that  we  are  not  resolving  moral  and  spiritual 
life  into  an  economic  process.  We  are  trying  to  make  our 
economic  order  the  expression  of  spiritual  ideals ;  or,  to  put 
it  conversely,  we  seek  to  make  moral  and  spiritual  realities 
the  ideals  and  the  ends  of  our  economic  order. 

One  of  the  great  pictures  of  the  world  is  that  of  the 
"Transfiguration,"  by  Raphael,  in  the  Vatican  at  Rome.  I 
always  love  to  look  at  it,  and  yet  I  always  wish  that  I  might 
place  another  beside  it  which  I  would  entitle  "The  Next  Hour 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE  107 

of  the  Day."  The  picture  which  I  would  place  there  in  the 
Vatican  beside  Raphael's  "Transfiguration"  would  be  that  of 
the  Master,  who  has  just  come  down  from  the  mountain  upon 
the  plain  of  human  life,  touching  the  poor  human  lunatic  and 
healing  him  of  his  disease.  Most  of  us  have  seen  only  the 
one  picture  of  Jesus  in  that  story  of  the  transfiguration.  Wo 
have  seen  it  in  the  upward  look.  In  the  other  picture,  we 
should  have,  side  by  side  with  it,  the  downward  reach. 

Two  things  then  the  Church  must  gain :  the  one  is  spirit- 
ual authority;  the  other  is  human  sympathy.  And  be  her 
human  sympathy  ever  so  warm  and  passionate,  if  she  have 
not  her  spiritual  authority,  she  can  do  little  more  than  raise 
a  dim  signal  of  distress  with  a  very  limp  and  pallid  hand. 
But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  she  assumes  a  spiritual  authority 
without  an  unmeasured  human  sympathy,  she  becomes  what 
her  Master  would  call  "a  whited  sepulcher  filled  with  dead 
men's  bones." 

May  this  Southern  Congress  spend  many  hours  upon  the 
mountain  of  Transfiguration  with  the  Master!  May  it,  the 
next  hour  of  the  same  day,  be  found  with  him  down  upon  the 
plain  healing  men  of  their  diseases !  For  there  can  be  no  real 
and  abiding  social  service  without  its  commensurate  spirit- 
ual vision,  and  the  one  will  be  as  real  and  abiding  as  the 
other  is  deep  and  reverent. 

Let  us  then  determine  to  know  nothing  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified.  The  cross  of  Christ  is  the  symbol  of  our 
faith;  let  us  lift  it  up  as  the  solitary  hope  of  mankind  and 
of  its  social  salvation.  Let  us  go  forth  to  carry  the  cross 
in  a  burdened  world.  And  may  we  and  all  who  have  known 
its  redeeming  power  lead  men  to  bow  before  it,  that  its 
light  may  uncover  and  dispel  the  sin,  the  selfishness,  the 
sordid  greed,  cold  indifference,  and  heartless  neglect  of  that 
world,  that  all  men  may  lift  it  up,  bear  one  another's  bur- 
dens, and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ.  For,  if  any  man  would 
come  after  him,  let  him  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  him. 

I  went  into  a  hospital  the  other  day.  I  witnessed  a 
parable.  A  pale,  weak,  bloodless  man  was  carried  in.  He 
was  not  strong  enough  to  walk.  He  did  not  even  come  of 
his  own  volition.    Following  him  came  a  great,  strong,  stal- 


108  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

wart  man,  glowing  with  health.  They  brought  them  to- 
gether. They  bared  an  arm  of  each  man.  They  brought 
them  into  fellowship  by  a  conductor  which  carried  the  rich 
blood  of  the  strong  into  the  frail  body  of  the  weak.  That 
should  be,  at  least,  the  spirit  of  the  Church,  and  this  sense 
of  her  mission  is  the  first  and  the  last  element  in  her  prepa- 
ration for  the  task  of  social  service. 


III.    RACE  RELATIONS 


Lack  of  Proper  Home  Life  among  Negroes 

Some  Conditions  among  Negroes  in  Cities 

The  Colored  Children  as  Future  Workers 

Religious  Conditions  among  Negroes 

Race  Co-operation  in  Promoting  Church  Work 

The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  as  a  Factor  for 

Social  Welfare 
Inter-Racial  Interests  in  Industry 
The  Inter-Racial  Interest  of  Health 
Religion  the  Common  Basis  of  Co-operation  ; 


LACK  OF  PROPER  HOME  LIFE  AMONG  NEGROES 

A.  M.  TRAWICK,  A.B.,  B.D.,  SOCIAL  SERVICE  SECRETARY  IN  THE 
STUDENT  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL  COM- 
MITTEE, Y.  M.  C.  A.,  NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

The  last  available  census  bulletins  reveal  the  fact  that 
there  are  330,000  negro  families  in  their  own  homes,  and 
for  this  fact  every  right-thinking  person  in  the  South  is 
grateful.  There  are  also  1,200,000  other  families  living  in 
rented  homes,  and  114,000  additional  families  marked  by 
census  enumerators  as  "Unknown."  A  fact  does  not 
change  its  significance  simply  because  it  is  discovered  to  be 
a  fact  bearing  upon  negro  life,  and  for  that  reason  it  would 
be  contrary  to  the  truth  to  assert  that  negro  home  life  in  a 
rented  house  is  of  necessity  incomplete,  unsatisfactory,  and 
unprogressive.  Concerning  these  rented  houses  we  must 
know  something  further  than  the  bare  fact  that  the  owner- 
ship lies  in  some  other  than  the  occupant  before  we  can 
arrive  at  a  just  estimate  of  the  ideals  ruling  the  home.  We 
must  know  some  of  the  things  lacking  in  the  negro  homes 
which  an  advancing  civilization  declares  are  necessary  to 
the  attainment  of  the  best  home  life.  We  must  know  also 
the  inevitable  reaction  of  intimate  neighborhood  upon  the 
growing  members  of  the  family,  and  from  these  premises 
we  must  draw  our  inferences  touching  a  greater  social  obli- 
gation. 

For  the  present,  therefore,  we  exclude  from  our  view 
the  two  million  or  more  negroes  who  are  progressing  in 
their  family  life  in  harmony  with  the  ideals  of  an  enlarg- 
ing civilization  and  center  our  attention  upon  the  unpro- 
gressive members  of  the  population.  In  order  to  make  this 
discussion  clear,  we  confine  our  attention  to  that  limited 
portion  of  negro  families  who  have  their  living  in  the 
alleys,  back  yards,  and  in  minor  streets  of  Southern  cities. 
Residences  in  back  yards  having  their  entrances  through 
neighboring  alleys  and  minor  streets  have  little  advantage 
over  the  alley  in  matters  of  sanitation,  light,  police  protec- 
tion, and  general  desirability.  Hence  we  shall  not  be  mis- 
understood if  we  employ  the  term  "alley  residence"  to  sig- 


112  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

nify  the  average  rented  quarters  of  poor  negroes  in  our 
cities. 

THE  THINGS  THAT  ARE  LACKING 

The  houses  which  a  million  families  of  negroes  occupy 
present  one  dominant  physical  character:  they  are  not 
adapted  to  a  twentieth-century  civilization.  All  ideals 
of  comfort,  safety,  and  progress  are  excluded  before  the 
family  enters.  There  are  three  types  of  these  structures, 
all  of  them  equally  successful  in  the  production  of  failure. 
The  first  type  is  the  little  separate  house  or  shack  built  of 
cheapest  material,  chosen  because  of  the  negro's  inability 
to  live  elsewhere.  The  second  type  is  the  old  building  for- 
merly occupied  by  a  different  class  of  residents  and  now 
given  over  to  negroes  who  demand  little  in  the  matter  of 
repairs  and  improvements.  The  third  type  is  the  tenement 
house,  accommodating  from  three  to  thirty  families,  pro- 
viding one  or  two  rooms  for  each  family,  and  offering  all 
the  occupants  one  porch,  one  water  supply,  and  one  toilet 
for  their  common  use.  New  buildings  conform  in  general 
to  these  prevailing  types;  and,  except  in  cases  where  im- 
proved housing  ordinances  are  enforced,  deterioration  is 
rapid  and  the  new  is  but  little  more  desirable  than  the  old. 

In  these  houses  there  is  uniform  failure  to  provide  ade- 
quate space  for  family  living.  It  is  not  unusual  to  find  five, 
six,  or  more  persons  in  two  rooms.  The  kitchen  is  also 
dining  room,  bedroom  and  workroom.  Articles  of  furni- 
ture are  beds,  tables,  stoves,  and  a  few  chairs.  Very  few 
are  the  wardrobes,  clothes  closets,  washstands,  and  dressers. 
Boarders  and  lodgers  often  share  some  part  of  a  two-room 
space  with  a  family  of  four.  These  rooms  have  no  run- 
ning water,  either  hot  or  cold ;  and  no  sinks,  water  closets, 
bathtubs,  and  refrigerators.  What  is  a  home  without 
brooms,  towels,  napkins,  needles,  thimbles,  sewing  machine, 
and  implements  to  prepare,  cook,  and  serve  food?  In  hun- 
dreds of  negro  homes  in  Southern  cities  there  are  none  of 
these  things,  and  the  accessories  of  civilization,  such  as 
books,  pictures,  rugs,  window  shades,  bed  sheets,  pillow- 
cases, and  tablecloths,  are  not  among  the  rewards  of  a  day's 


LACK  OP  PROPER  HOME  LIFE  AMONG  NEGROES  113 

search.  Children  are  crowded  away  from  the  table,  and  for 
their  sustenance  they  eat  at  irregular  hours  anything  they 
can  find  in  the  house  or  out  of  it.  They  are  crowded  out  of 
the  beds,  and  in  order  to  accommodate  strangers  they  sleep 
often  on  the  floor  without  mattresses,  covering,  or 
change  of  clothing.  The  entire  family  is  scarcely  ever  to- 
gether during  waking  hours,  and  there  is  no  counsel  be- 
tween parents  and  children,  no  reading  around  a  table,  no 
asking  and  answering  questions,  no  story-telling  or  games, 
no  singing,  no  cultivation  of  habits  or  manners,  no  prayers 
with  the  family,  and  no  giving  thanks  at  meals. 

But  what  does  the  neighborhood  offer  better  than  the 
house  itself  provides?  To  escape  from  the  repulsive  in- 
terior the  members  of  the  household  emerge  into  an  alley 
or  yard  filled  with  garbage,  ashes,  stagnant  water,  and  de- 
caying animal  carcasses.  The  narrow  yards  perform  in 
some  respects  indeed  a  better  function  than  the  open  court 
or  air  shaft  of  large  tenement  districts.  They  have  more 
sunlight  and  fresh  air  than  can  be  claimed  by  the  tenement 
dweller,  but  little  else  of  advantage  can  be  said  of  them. 
In  the  yards  are  the  vaults,  water  closets,  wood  and  coal 
houses,  pigsties,  poultry  pens,  garbage  cans,  and  water  sup- 
ply. The  toilets  are  the  most  primitive,  indecent,  and  un- 
sanitary affairs  that  can  be  imagined.  One  such  outdoor 
toilet,  without  water  connection,  is  often  the  only  provision 
for  a  tenement  of  thirty  families,  or  for  all  the  houses  on 
an  alley  for  the  length  of  a  city  block.  Screens,  door  locks, 
or  concealed  passageways  are  practically  unknown ;  and  al- 
though this  pollution  of  our  city  life  affects  health,  morals, 
intelligence,  and  family  integrity,  there  is  no  city  in  the 
South  that  has  adequately  dealt  with  it.  With  monotonous 
regularly  all  the  other  outhouses  on  the  premises  present 
a  condition  of  deterioration,  bad  repair,  and  sanitary  neg- 
lect. 

These  conditions  are  matters  belonging  not  to  one  family 
alone,  but  to  an  entire  city  block,  an  entire  street,  a  dis- 
trict given  over  to  the  least  prosperous  of  the  population. 
If  children  of  the  neighborhood  congregate  to  play,  they 
have  their  games  over  garbage  piles,  around  surface  closets. 


114  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

in  and  out  of  abandoned  outhouses,  through  a  rank  growth 
of  weeds,  in  the  slimy  filth  of  an  open  sewer,  and  over  the 
carcasses  of  animals  that  the  rain  has  not  washed  away. 
As  a  matter  of  simple  fact,  negro  children  in  this  station 
of  life  do  no  play  in  the  full,  free,  joyous  sense  of  the  word. 
They  express  their  instincts  more  satisfactorily  by  fighting 
than  by  playing.  The  boys  huddle  about  some  abandoned 
spot  and  spend  hours  in  a  stooping  posture  over  a  game  of 
craps,  or  in  the  corner  of  an  abandoned  building  they  pass 
on  the  suggestions  which  their  indecent  surroundings  have 
brought  to  their  mind.  The  girls  who  do  not  enter  early 
into  domestic  service  have  abundant  leisure,  but  no  play. 
Pitifully  few  dolls  or  playthings  of  any  description  are  to 
be  found  among  them.  They  have  no  room  at  home  for 
games,  parties,  make-believe  housekeeping,  or  childhood 
fancies.  Their  toys,  if  they  have  any,  are  rescued  from 
garbage  heaps,  and  their  years  are  spent  in  idleness  with- 
out constructive  amusement.  They  hear  the  unprofitable 
conversation  of  their  elders,  and  fill  the  vacant  time  with 
still  more  vacant  wanderings  from  one  unattractive  spot 
to  another.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  imagine  anything 
more  pathetic  than  the  complete  absence  of  play  in  the  lives 
of  negro  children  who  inhabit  city  alleys.  For  them  there 
are  no  visits  to  parks,  no  story  hour,  theaters,  museums,  or 
libraries ;  no  eager,  bounding,  self-directing  sport ;  no  shar- 
ing in  the  physical  hilarity  that  makes  American  youth  the 
wonder  and  delight  of  the  nation. 

For  adults  the  house  offers  nothing  more  satisfactory 
than  it  gives  to  the  children.  The  negro  man  or  woman 
cannot  sit  on  the  porch,  where  there  is  one,  nor  walk  in  the 
yard,  nor  visit  a  neighbor's  house,  without  gazing  con- 
stantly at  vaults,  washtubs  full  of  soapy  water,  pigsties,  and 
refuse  heaps.  The  contamination  of  sights,  sounds,  and 
odors  is  as  pervasive  as  the  atmosphere  and  there  is  no 
escape  from  it.  The  parks,  boulevards,  and  shady  streets, 
the  conservatories,  picture  galleries,  and  libraries,  the 
theaters,  amusement  halls,  restaurants,  and  hotel  lobbies 
are  forbidden  lands,  guarded  at  every  approach  by  flaming 
swords.  The  alley  negro,  having  achieved  nothing,  is  turned 


LACK  OF  PROPER  HOME  LIFE  AMONG  NEGROES  115 

back  by  his  own  helplessness  to  fester  and  decay  in  the 
rubbish  from  which  he  is  impotent  to  rescue  himself. 

Neighborhood  is  largely  a  matter  of  spiritual  geogra- 
phy. It  is  possible  for  the  strong,  dominant  personalities 
to  transcend  the  limits  of  the  street  and  the  restraints  of 
physical  location.  But  the  number  of  dominant  spirits  who 
are  not  subject  to  immediate  environment  is  exceedingly 
small,  and  our  obligation,  after  all,  is  not  to  the  strong 
alone,  but  to  the  weak  and  those  who  all  their  lives  are 
under  the  charm  of  what  they  see  and  hear  and  touch  in 
daily  contact.  It  is  an  inspiration  to  the  whole  world  to 
know  that  Shepherd,  the  negro  missionary  to  Africa,  Fel- 
low of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  and  city  mission 
pastor,  came  from  a  family  of  delinquents,  and  that  Cave 
Hill,  Louisville,  has  sent  to  Hampton  Institute  a  young 
man  who  promises  to  be  a  leader  in  the  intellectual  and 
moral  life  of  his  people.  Such  examples,  praiseworthy  as 
they  are  and  powerful  in  giving  stimulus  to  other  strug- 
gling lives,  do  not  remove  the  obligation  from  the  strong 
to  bear  the  burdens  of  the  weak.  It  is  still  true  that  the 
majority  of  the  human  family  are  molded  by  the  things 
they  see,  guided  by  the  things  they  hear,  and  dominated  by 
the  things  they  touch.  To  say  that  they  are  weak  does  not 
disprove  the  fact  that  the  general  tone  of  life  may  be  im- 
proved and  many  individuals  lifted  into  careers  of  great 
usefulness  by  the  purification  of  neighborhood  contact. 

THE  UNAVOIDABLE  PRESSURE  OF  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  reality  pressing  upon  life  gives  form  and  direction 
to  its  ideals.  Experience  is  the  basis  of  dreams,  the  sub- 
stratum upon  which  ambitions  are  erected.  The  past  is 
projected  into  the  future,  and  the  possible  is  determined 
by  the  actual.  The  standard  which  even  the  best  of  men 
set  for  themselves  is  built  up  of  material  already  possessed 
by  the  memory  and  conscience.  For  the  majority  of  human 
beings  ideals  are  sobered  by  actual  attainment  rather  than 
brightened  by  hopes  of  the  impossible.  It  is  not  easy  to 
transplant  a  wholly  new  standard  of  conduct  while  the 


116  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

facts  of  life  and  the  testimony  of  the  senses  strike  hard 
upon  unchanging  forces.  Said  a  negro  when  a  new  mode 
of  life  was  presented  to  him :  "I  never  allow  myself  to  want 
what  I  know  I  cannot  get." 

This  dependence  of  ambition  upon  reality  renders  im- 
provement of  negro  home  life  both  difficult  and  encour- 
aging. It  is  difficult  because  life  for  many  has  continued 
so  long  under  depressing  circumstances  that  desire  is  atro- 
phied and  imagination  has  no  conquest  to  work  upon.  It  is 
encouraging  because  a  change  of  material  facts,  combined 
with  patient  guidance  and  living  illustrations  of  success, 
does  actually  produce  new  results  in  motive  and  effort.  The 
problem  has  begun  to  disappear  when  living  examples  of 
success  are  made  common  in  every  negro  neighborhood. 

It  is  not  a  peculiar  race  characteristic  that  makes  negro 
home  life  a  hard  problem  for  society  to  solve.  The  call  of 
race  is  imperative  in  such  matters  as  family  association, 
social  groupings,  and  family  integrity,  and  is  evident  among 
negroes  just  as  it  is  among  Jews,  Anglo-Saxons,  Asiatics, 
or  any  other  division  of  humankind.  Negroes  will  move 
into  an  alley  and  live  among  other  negroes  just  for  the 
same  reason  that  Syrians  will  occupy  one  tenement  and 
Italians  another.  It  is  perhaps  true  also  that  negroes  will 
be  forced  into  more  complete  segregation  than  the  mem- 
bers of  any  other  race  because  of  the  ever-present  racial 
antipathy  against  their  freedom  of  intermingling.  But  there 
is  no  evidence  whatever  that  dirt,  disorder,  and  indecency 
are  the  products  of  negro  race  selection.  A  negro  lives  in 
an  unsanitary,  dilapidated  hut  or  overcrowded  tenement  in 
a  malodorous  alley,  not  because  of  race  tendency  moving  in 
that  realm  of  physical  perversion,  but  because  that  shelter 
is  the  best  that  is  expected  of  him  or  made  possible  for 
him.  He  has  been  taught  that  his  wage  earnings  make  no 
better  home  possible,  and  that  his  value  as  a  citizen  re- 
quires nothing  higher  of  him.  He  moves  in  that  realm  be- 
cause he  accepts  the  common  estimate  upon  his  own  man- 
hood, and  he  confines  his  family  to  that  limiting  environ- 
ment because  he  expects  nothing  more  of  his  children  than 
that  they  should  follow  in  his  footsteps. 


LACK  OF  PROPER  HOME  LIFE  AMONG  NEGROES  117 

When  we  consider  how  all  the  senses  are  assaulted  by 
the  material  things  that  spring  out  of  the  alley,  we  cannot 
marvel  that  so  large  a  number  of  negroes  are  backward  in 
appropriating  the  better  gifts  of  civilization.  There  is 
nothing  to  look  upon  to  suggest  beauty,  order,  or  conform- 
ity to  law.  Everything  is  present  to  teach  the  law  of  con- 
fusion and  the  fact  of  failure.  Dirt,  trash,  and  filth  have 
acquired  the  supremacy,  and  from  earliest  infancy  the  eyes 
gaze  upon  an  arrangement  of  things  that  indicates  inde- 
cency, incompetency,  and  the  dependence  of  the  spirit  upon 
matter.  The  sounds  that  first  awaken  the  mind  are  dis- 
cordant, repellent,  irritating,  and  produces  the  reaction  of 
despair,  discontent,  and  inability  to  master  the  forces  that 
are  displeasing.  The  odors  are  foul,  insistent,  adhesive, 
and  corrupting;  the  touch  is  evasive  and  at  the  same  time 
intimate;  repellent  but  at  the  same  time  hypnotic.  The 
taste  is  compounded  of  all  the  other  senses  that  annoy  the 
memory  and  stupefy  the  imagination.  Residence  in  the 
alley  or  in  neglected  minor  streets  supplies  all  the  elements 
that  offend  against  every  human  sense. 

The  effects  of  this  persistent  invasion  of  the  avenues  of 
the  soul  are  not  doubtful  or  long  delayed.  The  volition  is 
weakened,  the  sentiment  is  perverted,  and  the  moral  stand- 
ards are  erected  out  of  the  only  material  at  hand.  It  is 
impossible  to  say  to  what  extent  our  idea  of  a  moral  life 
grows  out  of  the  facts  which  constantly  confront  us;  but 
every  father  or  mother  with  ambitions  for  their  children's 
welfare  shun,  as  they  would  contamination  itself,  the  in- 
fluences that  work  deterioration  of  the  physical  senses.  The 
material  world  is  the  companion  and  prototype  of  the  moral 
world.  Disorder  in  the  physical  world  has  its  counterpart 
in  disobedience,  trash  passes  over  into  license,  discord  has 
its  answer  in  inattention;  reeking  filth  has  its  reaction  in 
careless  and  degenerate  habits.  Beauty  is  an  aid  to  mor- 
ality and  ugliness  is  a  stimulant  of  vice. 

The  alley  as  a  place  of  residence  is  an  evidence  of  a  good 
thing  gone  wrong.  It  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  structure 
of  a  city,  and  has  its  justification  in  the  convenience  of 
family  life  in  city  blocks  and  in  the  demands  of  commercial 


118  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

activity.  To  meet  its  true  purpose  the  alley  must  be  main- 
tained as  a  part  of  our  sanitary  and  police  system,  as  a 
means  of  protection  against  fire  and  as  a  preventive  of  land 
overcrowding.  But  when  we  allow  the  alley  to  be  diverted 
from  its  good  uses  and  to  become  a  place  of  residence,  we 
destroy  the  good  it  may  do  and  turn  it  into  a  culture  tube 
of  disease,  ignorance,  and  immorality. 

As  a  social  influence  the  alley  becomes  through  neglect 
the  chief  promoter  of  contagion  and  physical  degeneracy. 
It  claims  its  retribution  in  infant  mortality  and  general 
debility  throughout  the  home  of  the  more  cultured  and  the 
more  highly  privileged.  It  scatters  its  poison  over  the  paved 
street  and  boulevard,  and  demonstrates  the  fact  that 
there  is  no  denying  the  truth  of  social  unity.  It  teaches 
three  important  lessons  in  the  realm  of  social  ethics.  First, 
the  city  has  allowed  an  evil  thing  to  exist,  and  individual 
life  is  therefore  surrounded  by  permissible  evil  things.  By 
so  much  as  the  city  lowers  its  standards  in  the  maintenance 
and  use  of  the  alleys,  by  so  much  also  will  life  along  its 
forgotten  length  be  marked  by  lowered  moral  standards. 
Secondly,  the  city  encourages  the  inhabitants  of  the  alley 
in  the  evil  habit  of  covering  unsightly  and  disagreeable 
things,  which  they  attempt  to  do  by  building  fences  around 
unsightly  yards,  training  vines  or  piling  fresh  rubbish  on 
top  of  decaying  heaps.  The  ordinary  "clean-up"  day,  of 
which  so  much  boast  is  made  in  some  cities,  results  in 
nothing  more  in  negro  alleys  than  covering  up  a  few  of  the 
most  hideous  sights.  All  this  is  civic  insincerity,  and  leads 
to  the  pernicious  individual  habit  of  concealing  vices  rather 
than  removing  them.  Thirdly,  along  the  alley  many  other 
evil  things  are  shamelessly  exposed,  and  no  value  whatever 
is  placed  upon  a  decent  self-restraint  and  a  regard  for  the 
welfare  of  others.  This  leads  to  a  contempt  for  one's  own 
best  sentiments  and  a  supreme  disregard  of  them  in  others. 
Evil  things  permitted,  evil  things  concealed,  and  a  disre- 
gard for  the  rights  of  others  become  the  ethical  atmos- 
phere of  the  alley  house,  and  the  home  is  pervaded  by  the 
same  moral  miasma. 

Many  negroes  who  are  compelled  to  live  in  the  alley  seek 
to  avoid  its  contamination  by  moving  from  house  to  house 


LACK  OF  PROPER  HOME  LIFE  AMONG  NEGROES  119 

and  from  one  alley  to  another.  Repeated  experiences  of 
^failure  to  improve  conditions  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
improvement  is  impossible,  and  out  of  failure  comes  the 
persuasion  that  the  material  world,  not  the  spirit  of  man, 
is  the  master.  It  is  one  of  the  most  pathetic  facts  in  con- 
nection with  negro  life  to  discover  family  after  family  in 
a  prolonged  search  after  better  homes  through  changes 
from  house  to  house  in  the  alley.  Their  hope  of  improve- 
ment lies  in  the  geography  of  the  home,  not  in  the  spirit 
of  mastery,  for  that  spirit  never  has  been  aroused  through 
contact  with  better  things  that  enter  into  the  details  of 
domestic  comfort. 

Many  have  supposed  that  the  migratory  habit  of  negroes 
is  a  race  characteristic,  and  have  condemned  it  as  a  cause 
of  their  failure  in  making  better  homes.  It  is,  on  the  con- 
trary, more  nearly  the  truth  to  say  that  their  failure  to 
make  a  home  that  satisfies  is  the  productive  cause  of  their 
restlessness.  The  habit  is  almost  entirely  absent  in  the 
lives  of  those  negroes  who  have  built  a  home  with  some 
standards  of  culture  possible  in  it.  The  failure  of  many 
so-called  "plantation  experiments"  has  resulted  in  no  small 
degree  from  the  unwillingness  of  plantation  owners  to 
encourage  living  on  property  which  the  negroes  could  buy 
and  claim  for  their  own  and  improve  as  their  ability  in- 
creased. 

Life  in  the  only  house  available  for  the  negro  has  pro- 
duced in  him  a  degrading  sense  of  his  own  personal  power 
and  worth.  The  alley  has  conquered  those  who  live  upon 
it,  and  out  of  many  conflicts  there  has  come  an  apathy  that 
accepts  life  as  a  thing  detached  from  success,  mastery,  and 
abiding  pleasure.  High  moral  conduct  is  for  those  who 
have  succeeded  in  gaining  some  mastery  over  the  forces  of 
nature,  but  morality  and  conduct  are  forever  divorced  in 
those  lives  that  have  no  basis  in  achievement.  There  is  no 
guarantee  that  the  negro  will  be  a  complete  moral  man 
simply  because  he  lives  in  a  clean,  comfortable,  separate 
house,  for  no  one  holds  that  economic  independence  is  of 
itself  a  sufficient  regenerating  agency.  But  the  moral  ap- 
peal is  stronger  when  hope  is  alive.  There  is  little  hope 
in  the  midst  of  filth,  indecency,  and  overcrowding. 


120  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

Upon  organized  society  falls  the  first  obligation  to  re- 
move the  stone  from  the  sepulcher  of  buried  human  ambi- 
tion and  self-respect.  The  alley  is  a  social  product,  and 
the  alley's  putrefying  humanity  is  an  indictment  of  society's 
trustworthiness. 

In  the  discussion  which  has  claimed  our  attention  to 
this  point  we  recognize  clearly  that  only  a  limited  number 
of  families  is  involved  and  that  they  are  confined  to  the 
cities,  but  their  number  is  sufficiently  large  to  justify  a  dis- 
tinct appeal  for  community  righteousness  on  their  behalf. 
We  recognize  also  that  a  remedy  for  the  deplorable  condi- 
tions lies  within  reach  of  a  Christian  social  neighborhood, 
and  that  wherever  the  submerged  members  of  our  human 
society  have  the  offer  of  a  better  family  life  under  favor- 
able circumstances,  they  respond  to  it  in  a  way  to  rejoice 
the  heart  of  every  true  friend  of  human  respectability. 

When  applied  even  to  the  least  progressive  of  our  fellow 
human  beings,  the  regeneration  of  family  life  is  a  victory 
won  through  the  majesty  of  the  forces  of  kindness,  justice, 
and  love. 


SOME   CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  CITIES* 

GEORGE  EDMUND  HAYNES,  PH.D.,  DIRECTOR  OF  THE  NATIONAL 
LEAGUE  ON  URBAN  CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES ; 
PROFESSOR  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE,  FISK  UNI- 
VERSITY, NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

Among  the  outstanding  features  of  national  life  to-day 
is  the  migration  to  and  concentration  of  negroes  in  cities, 
North  and  South.  Following  hard  upon  the  settlement  in 
the  cities  there  is  a  segregation  which  cuts  off  points  of 
friendly  contact  between  white  and  colored  people,  espe- 
cially the  better  elements,  and  shuts  out  the  negro  from 
many  of  the  most  desirable  forces  of  the  common  life.    As 


*City  is  used  as  the  shortest  term  for  all  urban  centers  of  2,500 
inhabitants  or  more.    It  includes  towns  and  cities. 


SOME  CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  CITIES  121 

a  result,  the  industrial,  housing,  health,  educational,  and 
pther  problems  of  his  city  life  are  more  crucial  than  those 
of  his  white  brethren.  The  negro's  heroic  struggles  to  over- 
come his  maladjustment  have  greater  odds  against  their 
success. 

In  discussing  this  matter  the  time  is  past  for  the  pas- 
sionate avowal  of  opinions  based  merely  upon  feelings;  the 
facts  must  be  carefully  studied  and  conclusions  logically 
drawn. 

I.      THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  CITY  UPON  NEGRO  LIFE 

Our  attention  to  the  needs  of  the  negro  should  include 
the  influence  that  town  and  city  are  exerting.  In  the  first 
place,  the  town  and  city  are  trading  centers  for  the  rural 
negroes,  especially  in  the  South.  On  Saturdays  most  farm- 
ers and  farm  laborers  take  a  holiday  to  go  to  town.  In  some 
localities  an  additional  day  in  midweek  is  added.  On  these 
visits  the  country  folk  not  only  get  much  of  their  merchan- 
dise and  liquor,  but  they  get  the  gossip,  the  ideas  of  dress, 
of  homes,  of  business,  of  amusements,  of  gambling,  and  of 
other  vices.  More  than  twenty-five  miles  in  the  backwoods 
of  Alabama  I  have  seen  the  imitation  of  town  ideas  in 
cabins,  in  churches,  and  in  drunken  carousals.  Eight  or  ten 
miles  in  the  rural  sections  of  Tennessee  I  have  seen  dress 
and  firearms  and  picture-show  apparatus  which  could  be 
traced  to  no  other  source  than  the  near-by  town.  And  to- 
day, though  it  need  not  be  so,  the  best  educational  oppor- 
tunities and  the  best  medical  care  are  centered  in  the  cities. 
We  should  also  remind  ourselves  that  the  white  and  negro 
banks,  and  many  of  the  business  firms,  which  provide  the 
financial  and  commercial  facilities  that  serve  the  negro,  are 
located  in  the  towns  and  cities. 

In  the  above  statements  I  have  tried  simply  by  illustra- 
tion to  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  study  of  the  negro  in 
towns  and  cities  and  the  relation  of  towns  and  cities  to  the 
entire  negro  population  has  a  significance  which  we  have 
hardly  yet  realized.  It  demands  our  attention  and  deserves 
our  best  thought,  for  it  is  pregnant  with  potency  for  negro 
welfare  or  the  reverse,  and  not  only  for  his  help  or  harm. 


122  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

but  for  that  of  our  Southland,  which  we  love  so  dearly, 
and  for  that  of  the  entire  nation. 

IL      THE  MIGRATION  TO  THE  CITIES 

The  first  fact  which  strikes  the  observer  is  the  migration 
to  the  cities.  The  past  century  has  been  marked  by  the 
urban  migration  of  the  entire  population.  This  has  been 
especially  true  during  the  last  fifty  years.  In  the  United 
States  in  1880  the  total  population  was  29.5  per  cent  urban 
and  70.6  per  cent  rural.  In  1910  it  was  46.3  per  cent  urban 
and  53.7  per  cent  rural.  Since  1860  the  negro  has  been  a 
part  of  this  great  population  stream  that  is  moving  to  the 
cities.  In  1890  19.8  per  cent  of  the  total  negro  population 
resided  in  centers  of  2,500  inhabitants  or  more.  By  1900 
this  had  increased  to  22.7  per  cent,  and  in  1910  it  had  risen 
to  27.4  per  cent,  or  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  total  negro 
population.  The  negro's  movement  cityward  has  varied 
from  the  general  population  at  times  and  in  places  when 
special  influences  have  borne  upon  him.  But  where  the  in- 
fluences affecting  him  have  been  similar  to  those  affecting 
the  white  man,  his  movements  have  been  similar. 

From  the  economic  point  of  view  emancipation  from 
slavery  meant  a  release  from  the  soil.  With  the  breaking 
down  of  an  old  regime,  thousands  of  the  landless  freedmen 
were  possessed  with  the  wanderlust  which  has  seized  the 
masses  in  all  times  of  sudden  social  upheaval.  The  Union 
army  posts  which  were  located  in  towns  and  cities  became 
early  centers  of  concentration.  The  Ku-Klux  disturbance 
and  the  prevalent  notion  that  the  Federal  government  would 
care  for  all  added  their  power  to  the  other  forces  operating 
just  after  the  war  to  draw  the  negroes  into  the  urban  cen- 
ters. Thus  the  divorce  of  the  negro  from  the  soil  was  be- 
gun, and  it  has  not  been  entirely  checked  since. 

It  was  almost  inevitable,  then,  that  between  1860  and 
1870,  while  the  white  population  in  fourteen  Southern  cities 
increased  16.7  per  cent,  the  negro  population  increased  90.7 
per  cent;  and  in  eight  Northern  cities  (counting  New  York 
City  as  now  constituted  as  one)  the  negro  population  in- 
creased 51  per  cent  in  the  same  decade. 


SOME  CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  CITIES  123 

This  influx  of  negroes  to  these  cities  for  that  decade  was 
exceptional  because  of  the  exceptional  influences.  In  the  en- 
tire Continental  United  States,  for  towns  and  cities  of  2,500 
inhabitants  or  more,  from  1890  to  1900,  the  white  popula- 
tion increased  35.7  per  cent,  the  negro  35.2  per  cent;  while 
in  the  country  districts  the  whites  increased  12.4  per  cent, 
the  negroes  13.7  per  cent.  In  the  South  Atlantic  and  South 
Central  division  of  States,  from  1890  to  1900,  while  the 
white  urban  population  increased  36.7  per  cent  the  negroes 
increased  31.8  per  cent.  In  the  country  districts  the  whites 
increased  22.9  per  cent  and  the  negroes  14.6  per  cent.  This 
means,  to  quote  from  the  Twelfth  Census,  that  "in  the  coun- 
try districts  of  the  South  negroes  increased  about  tivo- 
thirds  as  fast  as  the  whites;  in  the  cities  they  increased 
nearly  seven-eighths  as  fast." 

A  careful  analysis  of  all  these  figures  supports  the  con- 
clusion that  the  migration  of  the  two  races  has  been  similar 
or  dissimilar  respectively,  as  the  influences  affecting  them 
were  similar  or  dissimilar. 

It  is  important,  then,  to  notes  the  influences  that  have 
moved  these  populations  to  the  cities.  I  have  already  noted 
the  special  cause  in  the  breaking  down  of  the  slave  regime 
as  it  operated  to  draw  negroes  to  the  centers  between  1860 
and  1870.  Besides  this,  the  negro  has  been  affected  by  those 
fundamental  economic,  social,  and  individual  causes  which 
have  moved  the  general  population.  Among  the  causes,  the 
principal  one  has  been  the  growth  of  the  industrial  and  com- 
mercial life  in  the  South.  The  industrial  growth  is  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  between  1880  and  1900  Southern  cities 
increased  143.3  per  cent  in  the  total  value  of  products,  and 
60.9  per  cent  in  the  average  number  of  wage-earners,  ex- 
clusive of  proprietors,  salaried  officers,  and  clerks.  The 
city  of  Birmingham,  with  its  great  iron  and  steel  industries, 
is  an  illustration.  In  1880  the  whole  county  of  Jefferson, 
where  the  city  is  situated,  contained  less  than  4,000  total 
population.  In  1910  the  city  of  Birmingham,  not  including 
all  of  the  county,  had  a  population  of  132,685. 

Indications  of  the  growth  of  commercial  life  are  best  seen 
in  the  amount  of  railroad  building,  total  railway  tonnage, 


124  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL .  BETTERMENT 

and  gross  earnings.  In  thirteen  Southern  States  from  1860 
to  1900  total  railway  mileage  increased  461.9  per  cent, 
nearly  fivefold.  Total  tonnage  for  most  of  this  same  terri- 
tory increased  90.5  per  cent,  or  nearly  doubled  between 
1890  and  1900,  while  the  total  freight,  passenger,  express, 
and  mail  earnings  increased  48.4  per  cent  during  the  same 
ten  years.  Besides  statistics,  general  observation  shows  the 
rapid  development  of  industrial  and  commercial  enterprises 
in  the  South  during  the  last  thirty  years.  Atlanta,  Ga., 
with  its  railway  interests,  is  a  type  of  the  city  built  upon 
commercial  development.  In  1880  it  had  a  population  of 
37,409.    In  1910  this  had  increased  to  154,839. 

Now  because  the  negro  has  been  such  a  large  factor  in 
the  labor  of  the  South  he  has  been  greatly  influenced  by 
these  industrial  and  commercial  developments.  Our  gen- 
eral knowledge  of  this  fact  is  corroborated  by  a  compari- 
son of  the  increase  in  the  number  of  white  and  negro  wage- 
earners  in  selected  Southern  cities.  Between  1890  and  1900 
in  domestic  and  personal  service  the  male  whites  increased 
42.3  per  cent,  negroes  31.1  per  cent;  in  trade  and  transpor- 
tation occupations  male  whites  increased  25.2  per  cent,  ne- 
groes 39.1  per  cent;  while  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical 
pursuits  male  whites  increased  16.3  per  cent,  negroes  11.6 
per  cent. 

The  fundamental  economic  causes  mentioned  above  have 
been  supplemented  by  social  and  individual  forces  that  in 
many  sections  have  been  very  influential.  Legislation,  espe- 
cially those  laws  which  have  borne  hard  upon  the  land  ten- 
ant and  farm  laborer,  making  their  uninviting  lot  worse 
than  it  otherwise  would  be,  has  been  a  factor.  The  city  has 
offered  better  educational  and  amusement  facilities. 

The  excitement  of  the  city  crowds,  the  paved  and  lighted 
streets,  the  other  comforts  and  conveniences  are  wonderful 
attractions  to  the  imagination  of  the  ignorant  rustic.  He 
has  no  other  thought  than  that  he  can  easily  secure  them. 
They  are  viewed  by  him  as  a  part  of  the  great  world  which 
is  so  much  better  than  the  hard  conditions  he  has  known 
on  plantation  and  farm.  The  easy  means  of  transportation 
by  rail  and  water  and  the  activities  of  employment  agents 


SOME  CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  CITIES  125 

and  of  black  slave  runners  increased  the  pressure ;  while  the 
return  to  the  country  home  of  relatives  and  friends  creates 
restlessness  among  the  younger  element  in  the  entire  neigh- 
borhood by  the  display  of  smart  clothes,  of  ready  cash,  and 
the  conversation  of  the  city  street. 

The  above  facts  and  figures  warrant  the  conclusion  that 
the  negroes  along  with  the  whites,  affected  by  causes  which 
will  undoubtedly  operate  for  an  indefinite  time,  will  con- 
tinue to  come  to  towns  and  cities  in  large  numbers,  and  that 
many  will  come  to  stay.  We  shall  therefore  have  a  large 
permanent  city  negro  population. 

The  present  urban  population  is  of  considerable  size. 
In  1910  thirty-nine  cities  had  10,000  or  more  negroes,  and 
the  following  twelve  of  these  cities  had  more  than  40,000  ne- 
groes each : 

Atlanta,  Ga 51,902 

Baltimore,  Md 84,749 

Birmingham,  Ala 52,305 

Chicago,  111 44,103 

Louisville,  Ky 40,522 

Memphis,  Tenn _ 52,441 

New  Orleans,  La 89,262 

New  York,  N.  Y 91,709 

Philadelphia,  Pa 84,459 

Richmond,  Va 46,733 

St.  Louis,  Mo 43,960 

Washington,  D.  C 94,446 

In  the  same  year  in  twenty-seven  principal  cities  (25,000 
or  more  total  population)  negroes  constituted  one-fourth  or 
more  of  the  total  population,  and  in  Montgomery,  Ala., 
Jacksonville,  Fla.,  Savannah,  Ga.,  Charleston,  S.  C,  the 
negro  population  was  one-half  or  more. 

III.      SEGREGATION  WITHIN  THE  CITY 

Following  hard  upon  the  concentration  of  negroes  in 
cities  is  the  segregation  into  districts  and  sections.  In 
Northern  cities  the  negro  Ghetto  is  as  distinct  as  the  Jew- 


126  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

ish  or  Italian.  In  Southern  centers,  while  domestic  serv- 
ants usually  continue  to  reside  on  or  near  the  premises  of 
their  employers,  the  negro  classes  which  find  a  livelihood 
outside  of  such  service  live  separate  and  apart  from  the 
general  community.  The  Harlem  district  of  New  York, 
State  Street  in  Chicago,  Chestnut  Street  and  "Smoketown" 
in  Louisville,  West  End  and  Auburn  Avenue  in  Atlanta  are 
typical  conditions  of  cities,  large  and  small,  North  and 
South. 

This  segregation  is  the  result  of  social  forces  working 
both  inside  and  outside  of  negro  life.  First,  negroes,  like 
other  people,  desire  to  be  together.  Racial,  family,  and 
friendly  relationships  produce  a  "consciousness  of  kind" 
which  binds  them  closer  together  than  brothers.  But  the 
desire  to  dwell  together  is  not  the  desire  to  live  amidst 
ignorance,  to  dwell  in  unsanitary  houses,  and  to  be  content 
with  inadequate  public  facilities  and  conveniences. 

In  order  to  secure  better  surroundings  than  those  usually 
to  be  had  in  the  sections  where  they  have  been  accustomed 
to  live,  negroes  of  intelligence  and  of  high  standards  of  liv- 
ing have  sought  either  to  improve  their  community  or  to 
move  out  of  the  Ghetto.  Like  other  people,  they  try  to 
shuffle  off  the  coil  of  their  previous  condition.  But  here  a 
perplexing  situation  confronts  us:  The  modem  sanitary 
and  other  protective  facilities  for  the  negro  neighborhood 
are  not  provided  when  the  negro  asks  for  them.  And  he 
meets  a  prejudiced  opposition  when  he  attempts  to  move  to 
localities  where  these  conveniences  are  to  be  had. 

Let  me  make  this  point  clear  by  a  concrete  statement 
which  illustrates  conditions  in  a  dozen  or  more  cities  that 
could  be  named  but  for  giving  offense  to  local  pride.  The 
negro  district  is  without  sewers;  the  privies  with  surface 
vaults  violate  every  regulation  of  sanitation  and  every  prin- 
ciple of  decency.  Many  of  the  rented  houses  are  without 
even  water  connection.  The  streets  are  out  of  repair  and 
in  filth  from  lack  of  drainage  and  garbage  collection.  The 
street  car  service  is  far  below  the  standard  of  other  sec- 
tions of  the  city,  and  results  in  loss  of  time,  delay  in  get- 
ting to  and  from  work,  and  in  unnecessary  crowding  on  the 


SOME  CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  CITIES  127 

few  cars  which  do  run.  The  less  said  about  police  protec- 
tion the  better. 

The  fire  protection,  if  there  is  any,  is  inadequate  and  in- 
ferior. Within  the  past  twelve  months  I  have  seen  resi- 
dences of  negroes,  which  they  had  built  by  years  of  strug- 
gle and  saving,  burn  to  the  ground  with  no  means  of  city 
fire  protection,  although  the  neighborhood  was  well  within 
the  corporate  limits  of  a  large  city  and  those  negroes  were 
bearing  a  heavy  tax-rate. 

The  most  serious  curse  in  the  neighborhood  is  the  sa- 
loon, the  questionable  houses  of  both  whites  and  blacks,  and 
the  diflSculties  which  confront  decent  negroes  who  try  to 
drive  these  agencies  from  among  their  homes.  Respect- 
able negroes  often  find  it  beyond  their  power  to  protect 
themselves  against  such  resorts  as  well  as  to  free  them- 
selves from  disreputable  and  vicious  characters  of  their  own 
race,  because  eternal  vigilance  does  not  always  bring  to  the 
colored  community  freedom  from  saloons,  gambling  dens, 
and  from  other  degrading  places. 

It  has  happened  more  than  once  that  the  lives  of  re- 
spectacle  colored  men  have  been  in  jeopardy  because  they 
took  evidence  to  the  city  authorities  in  futile  attempts  to 
protect  themselves  and  their  families  from  such  influences. 
Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  many  negroes  seek  to  buy  or 
build  houses  in  other  neighborhoods?  The  desire  for  and 
the  effort  to  secure  the  conveniences  and  to  get  protection 
has  resulted  in  the  segregation  conflict.  Since  the  desired 
benefits  will  not  come  to  the  negro,  he  undertakes  to  go  to 
the  benefits. 

This  segregation  is  progressing  farther  than  mere  resi- 
dences in  separate  neighborhoods.  In  both  Northern  and 
Southern  cities  negroes  live  almost  a  separate  existence  in 
their  church  life,  in  their  business  life,  and  in  their  com- 
munity life.  With  separate  street  car  and  railway  accom- 
modations, separate  places  of  amusement  and  recreation, 
separate  hospitals,  and  even  separate  cemeteries,  there  is 
danger  of  a  decided  cleavage  between  the  two  races  extend- 
ing from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  In  the  midst  of  this  par- 
tially isolated  life  city  negroes  are  called  upon  to  make  a 


128  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

very  difficult  threefold  adjustment.  First,  they  must  learn 
to  live  in  town.  Adjustment  to  changed  conditions  of  em- 
ployment, of  housing,  etc.,  must  be  made  by  all  people  who 
move  from  the  country  to  the  city.  Secondly,  we  are  mak- 
ing the  adjustment  from  the  status  of  chattel  to  that  of 
freemen,  from  slavery  to  citizenship.  We  are  struggling 
to  rid  ourselves  of  the  inner  feeling  of  servility;  we  are 
striving  to  stand  upon  our  feet  as  men,  to  believe  ourselves 
fit  for  the  freedom  of  a  democracy,  and  to  realize  in  our  own 
consciousness  the  self-confidence  and  self-control  of  free 
men  and  women.  In  the  third  place,  at  the  same  time  that 
negroes  are  facing  the  demands  of  their  surrounding  con- 
ditions, at  the  same  time  that  they  are  struggling  with  their 
inner  consciousness,  they  must  adapt  themselves  to  the 
white  population  in  the  cities.  And  I  hardly  think  any 
observer  will  deny  that  the  attitude  of  the  large  majority 
of  this  white  population  is  either  indifferent  or  prejudiced 
or  both  indifferent  and  prejudiced.  What,  then,  may  we 
expect  as  the  outcome  of  such  a  situation? 

IV.      THE  OUTCOME  OF  SEGREGATION 

As  was  indicated  a  few  moments  ago,  in  the  matter  of 
housing  conditions,  my  people  are  at  unusual  disadvantages 
when  they  want  respectable  surroundings.  As  shown  by 
reliable  investigations,  the  outcome  of  segregation  is  that 
the  "red  light"  districts  of  white  people  in  several  cities  are 
either  in  the  midst  of  or  border  upon  negro  districts.  In 
many  towns  loose  laws  and  lax  administration  permit  land- 
lords to  build  "gun  barrel"  shanties  and  "Noah's  arks"  of 
which  the  typical  pigeon  house  would  be  a  construction 
model,  and  to  crowd  these  houses  upon  the  same  lot,  some 
facing  front  street,  some  side  street,  and  others  facing  one 
or  two  alleys.  The  lack  of  water  and  sewerage  and  other 
sanitary  neglect  make  them  indeed  a  "noisome  pestilence." 
A  more  serious  outcome  of  segregation  is  the  handicap 
of  negroes  in  their  efforts  to  earn  a  living.  Four  facts  about 
the  industrial  life  of  the  negroes  need  to  be  borne  in  mind. 
First,  the  masses  that  move  to  the  city  are  unprepared  to 
meet  the  exacting  requirements  of  modem  industry  and  to 


SOME  CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  CITIES  129 

face  the  keen  competition  of  more  efficient  laborers.  Sec- 
ond, educational  facilities  to  train  these  aspiring,  strug- 
gling searchers  for  better  conditions  are  not  provided  in  any 
negro  neighborhood  of  any  city,  North  or  South,  so  far  as 
I  know.  The  first  experiment  in  a  vocational  school  is  to 
be  opened  in  Cincinnati  this  spring.  Third,  that  mixed  in 
with  the  ignorant  and  the  inefficient  are  the  lazy  and  the 
vicious.  The  hope  of  reward  has  been  so  often  deferred 
that  their  hearts  no  longer  respond  to  promises.  The 
"won't-works"  come  to  the  city  with  the  "can't-works." 

Along  with  these  three  facts,  does  not  the  fourth  arise? 
Are  not  the  white  employers  of  this  negro  labor  complain- 
ing and  blaming  the  negro  instead  of  understanding  the 
situation  and  providing  him  with  ample  opportunity  to 
overcome  his  deficiencies? 

The  general  result  of  these  four  factors  is  a  limitation 
of  the  occupational  field  for  the  negro,  and  his  being 
crowded  into  lower-paid,  unskilled  occupations.  Large 
numbers  pass  from  job  to  job  with  little  satisfaction  to 
themselves  or  their  employers.  They  are  thus  debarred 
from  a  better  standard  of  living  through  better  income  and 
the  community  is  deprived  of  a  valuable  supply  of  latent 
labor. 

The  outcome  of  these  conditions  is  a  strain  upon  the 
health  and  morals  of  negroes  perhaps  greater  than  upon 
any  other  element  of  our  city  population.  Badly  housed, 
with  poor  income  and  a  resulting  low  standard  of  living, 
the  marvel  is  not  that  the  negroes  have  a  uniformly  higher 
death  rate  than  the  whites  in  the  same  locality,  but  that  the 
death  rate  is  so  low  and  is  decreasing. 

The  moral  condition  cannot  be  figured  out  in  numbers 
and  set  down  in  statistical  tables.  Criminal  statistics  are 
quite  as  much  a  condemnation  of  the  community  as  an  in- 
dictment of  the  accused  negro.  On  the  other  hand,  the  sur- 
prise comes  from  impartial  observers  who  uniformly  testify 
to  the  integrity  of  large  bodies  of  worthy  negro  citizens, 
to  the  purity  of  thousands  of  individuals  and  homes,  and  to 
the  scores  of  law-abiding  communities.  All  the  available 
testimony  and  over  fifteen  years  of  observation  during  resi- 

9 


130  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

dence  in  six  cities  and  repeated  visits  to  more  than  a  score 
of  others  leave  a  firm  conclusion  that  there  is  slowly  per- 
sistent, continued  improvement.  With  these  truths  before 
us  what  may  be  suggested  as  a  remedy? 

V.  WHAT  MAY  BE  DONE 

The  recital  of  these  unpleasant  facts  could  be  justified 
only  upon  the  score  that  we  are  seeking  a  solution.  There 
is  a  silver  lining  behind  the  cloud.  The  foregoing  discus- 
sion shows  a  nation-wide  negro  migration  to  cities  and  a 
segregation  within  the  cities  which  is  far-reaching  in  its 
consequences.    What  can  we  do? 

1.  We  should  acquaint  the  negro  with  the  advantage 
of  his  remaining  in  the  rural  districts  and  getting  hold  of 
the  land  unless  by  education  and  training  he  is  prepared  to 
grapple  with  the  problems  of  city  life.  We  should  also  make 
every  effort  to  remove  the  disabilities  of  laws  unfavorable 
to  farm  life,  to  minimize  the  activities  of  labor  agents  and 
runners,  to  develop  amusements  and  recreation  in  country 
districts. 

2.  Realizing  that  there  are  scores  of  cities  and  towns 
which  already  have  large  negro  populations,  we  should  make 
a  determined,  organized  eflfort  to  help  these  negroes  adjust 
themselves  to  city  life.  The  feeling  between  the  white  and 
colored  people  in  each  community  must  be  made  more  cor- 
dial and  we  must  overcome  the  effects  of  the  increasing  seg- 
regation by  some  form  of  community  cooperation  between 
blacks  and  whites.  The  greatest  danger  is  the  growing  sus- 
picion on  the  one  hand  and  apprehension  on  the  other  be- 
tween the  best  elements  of  the  two  races.  They  misunder- 
stand each  other  because  they  have  decreasing  personal  con- 
tact. Mutual  sympathy,  practical  cooperation,  and  personal 
contact  will  work  wonders  with  prejudices  and  precon- 
ceived notions. 

3.  In  every  locality  the  white  people  and  the  colored 
people  should  form  some  kind  of  a  social  service  organiza- 
tion, should  map  out  a  community  program  for  improving 
the  neighborhood,  housing,  economic,  educational  and  reli- 


SOME  CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  CITIES  131 

gious,  and  other  conditions  among  negroes,  and  should  take 
some  immediate  steps  to  put  their  plans  into  operation. 

4.  These  local  organizations  should  either  join  hands 
in  making  the  movement  national  or  connect  themselves 
with  some  existing  organization  which  will  especially  deal 
with  the  problems  of  the  negroes  in  towns  and  cities.  By 
the  exchange  of  plans,  methods,  and  experiences,  general 
cooperation  and  necessary  enthusiasm  will  be  developed. 

5.  Negroes  must  have  a  better-trained  leadership.  The 
lesson  of  group  psychology  and  common  sense  should  be 
heeded.  An  intelligent  Jew  can  best  understand  and  lead 
Jews,  an  Italian  can  best  influence  Italians,  and  negro  lead- 
ers are  the  best  teachers  and  exemplars  to  their  own.  If 
the  negro  is  to  be  lifted  to  the  full  stature  of  American 
manhood,  he  must  have  leaders  trained  in  all  the  arts  and 
ideals  of  American  civilization.  He  should  also  have  a 
chance  to  make  the  contributions  which  he  undoubtedly  has 
to  offer  to  American  life. 

6.  The  final  suggestion  I  would  offer  is  that  impartial 
comni^unity  justice  be  accorded  alike  to  white  people  and 
to  black  people  in  every  locality.  This  is  the  best  means 
of  fostering  mutual  confidence  and  securing  the  full  co- 
operation of  the  negro.  This  will  also  serve  to  dispel  ap- 
prehension on  the  part  of  the  white  people.  A  "square  deal" 
in  the  conveniences  and  facilities  of  community  life  and  in 
the  protection  of  negro  homes  and  neighborhoods,  a  "square 
deal"  in  industry,  in  education,  and  in  all  the  walks  of  life 
is  the  foundation  stone  of  community  peace  and  welfare; 
for  the  problem  of  the  negro  in  the  city  is  only  a  part  of  the 
great  democratic  problem  of  justice  for  the  handicapped  in 
America,  "the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 


132  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

THE  NEGRO  CHILDREN  AS  FUTURE  WORKERS 

MRS.  FLORENCE  KELLEY,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

From  year  to  year  I  am  increasingly  impressed  with  the 
inappropriateness  of  the  education  that  we  offer  our  chil- 
dren, the  burden  of  this  inappropriateness  falling  most 
heavily  on  the  immigrant  and  colored  children. 

In  the  North  we  are  suffering  from  a  congestion  of  popu- 
lation in  the  cities  unequaled  anywhere  in  the  world.  This 
congestion  I  believe  to  be  in  great  measure  traceable  to  a 
half  century  of  intensive  education  of  boys  and  girls,  native 
and  foreign  born,  rural  and  city  bred,  white  and  colored, 
in  precisely  those  branches  which  incline  children  to  city 
life  by  turning  their  minds  toward  commercial  activities 
and  giving  them  habits  of  indoor,  sedentary  life. 

The  most  exaggerated  example  is  to  be  found  in  the  City 
of  New  York.  We  spend  more  than  thirty  million  dollars 
a  year  in  current  costs  for  our  schools.  We  educate  803,000 
children  at  an  approximate  average  annual  expense  of 
thirty-three  dollars  per  capita.  We  require  the  children  to 
stay  in  school  until  they  complete  six  years'  work  of  the  cur- 
riculum, or  reach  the  sixteenth  birthday. 

The  girls'  curriculum  varies  from  that  of  the  boys  only 
in  a  half  dozen  high  schools  at  which  attendance  is  optional. 
Throughout  the  first  six  grades  where  attendance  is  com- 
pulsory, the  education  of  the  boys  and  girls  is  identical. 
This  means  that  a  girl  may  leave  school  at  the  fourteenth 
birthday,  having  been  taught  reading,  writing,  arithmetic, 
geography,  and  English  grammar,  with  some  petty  manual 
work.  After  the  girl  has  left,  after  the  term  of  compulsory 
attendance  is  over,  domestic  science  begins  in  the  next 
year's  work  for  those  who  can  afford  to  stay  on  into  the 
seventh  year. 

This  postponement  of  the  only  instruction  calculated  to 
turn  the  girls'  minds  in  the  direction  of  home  life  is 
peculiarly  hard  upon  the  colored  girls  because,  in  the  great- 
est industrial  city  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  the  three 


THE   NEGRO  CHILDREN  AS  FUTURE  WORKERS  133 

occupations  open  to  a  colored  girl  are  those  of  a  wife,  per- 
forming the  ordinary  household  duties,  or  domestic  service, 
or  the  care  of  the  sick.  Catering,  as  an  offshoot  of  house- 
hold service,  hairdressing,  and  laundry  work  are  almost  the 
only  employments,  aside  from  the  three  above  mentioned, 
to  which  colored  girls  are  welcomed. 

Throughout  the  United  States  the  one  employment  for 
women  in  which  at  all  times  the  demand  far  exceeds  the 
supply  is  that  of  domestic  service,  and  every  woman — wife 
or  servant,  or  whatever  her  other  occupation — is  happier 
for  knowing  the  simple  elements  of  domestic  science.  What 
cruelty  it  is,  therefore,  to  prepare  all  girls  indiscriminately 
in  precisely  those  branches  which  incline  their  minds  away 
from  home  life!  Moreover,  we  carry  the  great  mass  of 
children  forward  so  short  a  distance  that,  leaving  school, 
they  can  at  best  mount  only  a  very  low  rung  of  the  indus- 
trial ladder. 

This  inappropriate  training  inflicts  greater  hardship 
upon  the  colored  girls  than  upon  any  others.  For  while  it 
fails  to  fit  them  for  occupations  which  call  aloud  for  them, 
it  prepares  them  for  other  employments,  only  to  find  closed 
doors  awaiting  them — doors  which  can  be  pried  open  only 
by  the  most  exceptional  ability  and  persistence,  and  then  in 
the  rarest  cases.  A  few  exceptional  girls  graduating  from 
technical  high  schools  or  business  schools  may  force  their 
way  against  grievous  opposition  into  office  work.  Although 
I  have  lived  fifteen  years  in  New  York,  I  have  never  seen  a 
colored  man  or  woman  employed  in  any  store,  or  in  any 
office  but  one.    A  few  find  employment  as  teachers. 

For  colored  boys  the  unvarying  school  curriculum  of  the 
first  six  years  is  not  so  grotesquely  inappropriate  as  for 
the  girls.    Yet  it  also  works  out  cruelly. 

Continuing  to  use  New  York  City  as  an  example,  the 
occupations  conspicuously  open  to  colored  boys  are  those 
of  porters,  janitors,  elevator  men,  furnace  men,  teamsters, 
barbers,  shoeblacks,  street  cleaners,  and  laborers  doing 
every  kind  of  heavy  work.  Exceptional  ones  become  ca- 
terers, chauffeurs,  gardeners,  and  shopkeepers  in  a  small 


134  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

way.  Gifted  boys  may  hope  to  be  in  some  small  numbers 
successful  teachers  and  preachers  for  their  own  race. 

The  sins  of  the  Northern  schools  are  sins  of  omission. 
They  do  not  give  the  children  those  things  which  would  open 
for  them  the  mysteries  of  country  life;  would  make  it 
economically  possible  and  socially  attractive.  Moreover, 
the  high  cost  of  land  makes  a  return  from  the  city  exces- 
sively difficult  for  families  who  have  been  attracted  city- 
ward by  the  city  schools. 

Just  as  domestic  service  cries  aloud  for  women,  the 
farms  are  under-manned  with  labor  skilled  and  unskilled. 
Yet  the  rural  schools  teach  all  the  children  the  same  things 
that  the  city  schools  teach,  with  poorer  equipment  and  worse 
paid  teachers. 

As  I  travel  about  the  South,  as  I  do  increasingly  from 
year  to  year  in  the  service  of  the  National  Consumers' 
League,  I  am  impressed  by  the  absence  of  school  buildings 
for  either  white  or  colored  children  along  the  lines  of  the 
railroads.  In  the  cities  where  I  stop,  schools  for  negro  chil- 
dren seem  ordinarily  to  be  few  compared  with  those  for 
white  children,  though  the  negro  children  are  many;  and 
nowhere  in  any  city,  or  village,  or  in  the  open  country,  have 
I  seen  a  rural  public  school  for  little  colored  children  with 
a  school  garden,  suggesting  a  curriculum  calculated  for 
country  life.  Yet  all  thoughtful  people,  white  and  colored, 
dwellers  in  the  Southern  States  and  observers  from  the 
North,  agree  that  it  is  a  misfortune  when  colored  people 
flock  to  town. 

It  can  truthfully  be  claimed  that  in  Southern  niral  com- 
munities children  have  not,  as  in  Northern  rural  schools, 
been  decoyed  away  from  the  soil  by  teaching  them  commer- 
cial branches,  by  filling  the  minds  of  rural  little  girls  with 
ideas  adapted  to  suggest  to  them  the  charms  of  work  in 
great  department  stores.  But  why  should  not  rural  schools, 
both  North  and  South,  inculcate  in  the  minds  of  the  rural 
children,  white  and  colored,  such  ideas  as  the  Swiss  chil- 
dren get?  They  raise  vegetables  and  fruit  around  their 
school  buildings  and  learn,  as  part  of  their  lessons  and  in 
all  their  school  experience,  the  theory  and  practice  of  co- 


THE  NEGRO  CHILDREN  AS  FUTURE  WORKERS  135 

operation.  It  comes  into  every  activity  of  their  life,  from 
the  Sunday  walking  party  under  the  teacher's  care  to  some 
woods  or  waterfall  or  other  point  of  interest,  to  the  school 
choir  forming  a  part  of  a  great  regional  musical  associa- 
tion. And  cooperative  railway  journeys  enable  school  chil- 
dren to  learn  the  geography  of  their  own  land. 

We  hear  much  of  com  clubs  and  tomato  clubs,  of  the 
girls'  classes  in  canning  and  fruit  preserving.  There  is 
ground  for  rejoicing  in  all  such  tidings.  But  can  we  not 
go  a  step  further  and  inculcate  along  with  skill  in  these 
practices  the  ideas  which  the  Danes  and  Swiss  absorb  in 
their  early  childhood,  of  cooperation  in  every  rural  activity, 
in  buying  the  cans  and  glasses  for  canning  and  preserving, 
in  selling  the  product,  in  spending  cooperatively  the  money 
derived  from  the  work  of  the  clubs? 

As  we  see  colored  men  and  women  in  the  cities  of  the 
North,  the  two  stimulating  principles  which  they  seem  most 
to  need  are  hope  for  the  future  of  their  children  and  co- 
operation among  themselves.  It  is  perhaps  in  some  respects 
harder  for  intelligent  negro  parents  to  face  the  future  ani- 
mated by  hope  for  their  children  in  the  North,  than  it  is 
in  the  South.  For  bitter  is  the  disillusionment  of  the  col- 
ored mother  who  has  slaved  at  the  washtub  a  dozen  years 
to  give  her  boys  and  girls  the  advantages  of  the  schools, 
only  to  find  that  those  schools  have  led  the  children  into  a 
blind  alley  in  relation  to  occupation,  fitting  them  only  for 
work  to  which  colored  boys  and  girls  are  not  admitted ! 

For  all  young  people,  the  country  over,  the  quarter  cen- 
tury on  which  we  are  entering  is  destined  to  see  a  new  kind 
of  instruction  introduced  into  the  schools.  This  has  begun 
more  successfully,  perhaps,  in  Wisconsin  than  elsewhere, 
the  rural  community  needs  being  studied  by  the  school  au- 
thorities and  the  teachers  encouraged  to  try  to  meet  those 
needs  by  the  activities  of  the  schools  themselves.  The  sim- 
plest and  hitherto  most  successful  form  of  this  new  work 
has  been  testing  seeds,  the  work  being  done,  in  a  number 
of  counties,  in  the  ordinary  village  schools  by  children ;  and 
the  advantage  derived  by  their  parents  has  been  so  con- 
spicuous and  convincing  that  there  is  now  a  sort  of  clamor 


136  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

for  similar  effort  in  relation  to  improvement  in  dairying 
and  cheese  manufacture,  the  characteristic  industries  of 
that  rural  Northwestern  State. 

This  is,  of  course,  merely  one  local  application  of  an  idea 
susceptible  of  application  throughout  all  rural  America. 
The  miracle  is  that  so  practical  a  nation  as  we  should  go 
on,  decade  after  decade,  teaching  our  children,  at  great  cost 
of  self-denial  to  their  parents  and  great  expense  of  money 
on  the  part  of  the  community,  subjects  which  neither  give 
pleasure  to  the  children  while  they  are  doing  the  work,  nor 
make  them  happy  or  prosperous  after  they  leave  school,  nor 
enrich  the  community  which  maintains  the  schools.  In  the 
matter  of  the  colored  children  in  the  South  there  is  less  to 
undo,  because  less  has  been  done  and  done  wrongly,  than 
in  the  case  of  white  and  colored  children  in  the  North.  But 
there  is  an  infinity  yet  to  be  begun ! 

According  to  the  last  census  we  are,  in  this  country,  not 
gaining  in  the  struggle  against  illiteracy.  Of  the  native 
white  children  of  native  white  parents,  ten  to  sixteen  years 
old,  three  per  cent,  over  half  a  million,  are  illiterate.  Among 
the  colored  children  the  percentage  is  far  heavier,  the  total 
number  far  more  impressive.  Yet  we  go  on  from  decade  to 
decade,  leaving  the  education  of  this  vast  class  of  workers, 
as  we  have  always  done,  to  the  conscience  of  the  local  au- 
thorities. 

The  best  that  can  be  said  for  the  teaching  offered  colored 
children  in  the  Northern  schools  is  that  it  follows  the  one 
sound  principle  that  in  a  democratic  republic  all  the  people, 
irrespective  of  their  future  occupations,  must  possess  a  cer- 
tain minimum  foundation  of  trained  intelligence  as  the 
basis  of  future  citizenship. 

The  Federal  government  creates  vast  universities  in  two 
dozen  States  by  gifts  of  public  land,  to  stimulate  the  States 
to  cherish  the  higher  education.  Through  the  Agricultural 
Department  money  is  spent  to  educate  adults  already  on 
farms  to  cultivate  those  farms  more  intelligently.  We  spend 
this  money,  however,  upon  pupils  whose  plastic  period  is 
over,  for  whom  the  years  in  which  learning  is  easiest  have 
passed  unfruitfuUy,  when  habits  and  prejudices  are  rooted. 


THE  NEGRO  CHILDREN  AS  FUTURE  WORKERS  137 

and  teaching  new  ideas,  and  habits,  and  practices  is  in- 
finitely difficult. 

The  colored  children  as  future  workers  concern  the 
whole  republic.  The  future  product  of  their  labor  should 
contribute  largely  to  the  well-being  of  the  nation.  But  the 
day  has  passed,  if  it  ever  existed,  when  illiterate,  unskilled, 
unthinking  men  and  women  could  contribute  their  full  share 
to  the  commonwealth. 

It  is  the  concern  of  the  whole  people  that  illiteracy 
among  the  native  born,  white  or  colored,  should  be  wiped 
out.  For  efficient  living  and  working,  in  town  or  country, 
is  unthinkable  without  the  foundation  of  elementary  educa- 
tion. 

There  is  now  at  work  a  Federal  Commission  on  Voca- 
tional Education,  which  is  to  report  in  June.  It  behooves 
all  who  are  interested  in  the  colored  children  as  future  work- 
ers to  read  with  critical  care  and  attention  the  whole  of  that 
report,  and  to  take  an  active  part  in  relation  to  the  future 
of  the  Commission.  Will  the  recommendations  include  pro- 
vision for  elementary  education  of  all  the  children  as  a 
necessary  preliminary  step  leading  to  vocational  education? 
Or  will  it  recommend  some  attempt  at  a  short-cut  substi- 
tute for  the  elementary  schools?  Will  the  Commission  re- 
late vocational  education  to  the  needs  of  the  rural  colored 
people? 

Our  democratic  industrial  republic  cannot  fulfill  its  des- 
tiny if  one  large  portion  of  the  population  exist  without  the 
stimulus  of  hope.  The  most  spontaneous,  abiding,  stimulat- 
ing hope  is  that  of  owning  a  home  in  which  to  bring  up 
children,  whose  future  may  be  more  prosperous  than  the 
present  life  of  the  parents.  Any  statesmanlike  treatment 
of  negro  childem  as  future  workers  must  aim  at  gratifying 
this  hope  in  the  fullest  possible  measure.  This  involves  a 
land  policy  calculated  to  encourage  parents  to  strive  to  own 
rural  homes,  and  an  educational  policy  embracing  all  the 
children.  Is  there  any  subject  of  greater  importance  con- 
fronting the  Southern  Sociological  Congress? 


138        BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  WHICH  HINDER  NEGRO 

PROGRESS 

JOHN  D.  HAMMOND,  B.D.,  D.D.,  AUGUSTA,  GA. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  present  efforts  of  the  white 
race,  both  North  and  South,  in  behalf  of  the  negro  are  put 
forth  more  in  the  interest  of  his  school  than  of  his  church ; 
and  that  the  type  of  education  recommended  to  and  pressed 
upon  him,  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other,  is  industrial. 
The  two  leading  institutions  maintained  by  Northern  money 
— Hampton  and  Tuskegee — stress  the  industrial  features  to 
the  extent  of  entirely  excluding  college  courses;  and  these 
may  be  said  to  type  almost  the  whole  system  of  negro  edu- 
cation. Institutions  of  really  high  grade  for  training  preach- 
ers, teachers,  and  other  leaders  are  few  and  far  between. 
There  are  some,  of  excellent  character,  maintained,  for  the 
most  part,  by  churches,  which  are  doing  a  much-needed 
work ;  but  they  are  so  few  and  so  poorly  endowed  as  to  be 
but  feebly  felt  in  meeting  the  negro's  great  need  for  aid  in 
the  higher  realm  of  his  intellectual  and  spiritual  life. 

On  the  assumption  that  the  negroes  are  a  child  race  we 
have  planned  for  them  an  education  suited  to  our  theory. 
But  it  is  a  one-sided  education ;  and  we  may  wake  up  in  the 
future  to  find  that  we  have  made  of  them  a  one-sided  race. 
Both  by  precept  and  example  the  white  race  says  to  them 
that  progress  consists  in  making  money ;  that  the  true  goal 
of  human  effort  is  "getting  on"  in  the  world.  In  all  the 
large  and  representative  race  conferences  which  I  have  at- 
tended the  dominant  thought  has  been  that  of  material 
prosperity.  The  leading  topics  of  discussion  have  been: 
"What  were  your  surroundings  a  few  years  ago?  How 
have  you  managed  to  rid  yourself  of  your  former  poverty, 
and  to  bring  yourself  to  your  present  condition  of  pros- 
perity?" Of  course  honesty,  truthfulness,  industry,  so- 
briety, and  cleanness  of  life  have  been  emphasized  as  lead- 
ing factors  in  these  changes  for  material  betterment. 

And  this  is  just  the  point:  these  high  virtues  are  being 
stressed  in  their  relation  to  man's  material,  rather  than  to 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  AND  NEGRO  PROGRESS  139 

his  spiritual,  progress.  We  are  unintentionally,  and  even 
unconsciously,  urging  upon  the  negro  the  old  utilitarian 
ethics — a  system  which  moral  scientists  long  ago  weighed 
in  the  balances  and  found  wanting.  The  moral  virtues 
which  have  been  found  to  be  of  value  in  the  sphere  of  man's 
material  interests  have  also  been  found  to  lose  their  beauty 
and  power  when  detached  from  their  native  element  of  his 
spiritual  interests.  As  mere  stimuli  to  his  selfish  ambition 
they  take  their  place  with  all  that  is  "of  the  earth,  earthy ;" 
but  with  the  added  taint  of  hypocrisy  and  with  the  handi- 
cap of  misadjustment  to  the  machinery  of  present-day  busi- 
ness. As  a  consequence,  they  are  soon  discarded  by  those 
who  seek  merely  their  own  welfare,  and  not  "the  things  of 
another." 

We  must  not  be  understood  as  disparaging  industrial 
education  for  the  negro  any  more  than  for  the  white  man. 
We  need  even  more  of  it,  and  of  a  better  kind  than  we  now 
have,  for  both  races.  But  in  the  case  of  the  white  man  the 
primary  and  industrial  parts  of  his  education  are  supple- 
mented by  the  higher  branches,  supplied  by  the  college  and 
the  university,  as  they  are  not  in  the  case  of  the  negro.  A 
glance  at  the  field  of  negro  education  will  show  that  the 
higher  element  is  sadly  deficient.  Theoretically  the  higher 
institutions  of  the  North  are  open  to  him;  but  practically 
it  is  anything  but  easy  for  him  to  take  advantage  of  his 
opportunities  in  this  direction.  The  standards  of  admis- 
sion are  for  the  most  part  prohibitive;  and  the  expense  is 
greater  than  he  is  prepared  to  meet.  His  welcome,  too,  is 
not  always  as  cordial  as  he  has  been  led  to  expect. 

Colleges  and  universities  of  his  own,  built,  manned,  and 
endowed  by  negroes,  cannot,  of  course,  be  expected  at  this 
early  stage  of  his  development;  and  the  princely  gifts  of 
white  people  to  higher  education,  so  numerous  in  recent 
years,  have  all  gone  to  institutions  for  the  more  favored  race ; 
and  there  appears  as  yet  no  impulse,  even  among  the  few 
wealthy  members  of  the  colored  race,  to  give  any  consider- 
able amount  to  any  institution  for  the  higher  education  of 
their  people.  Such  institutions  of  this  character  as  may  be 
found  are  for  the  most  part  dependent  upon  the  charity  of 


140  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

the  churches  and  of  a  few  large-minded  philanthropists  for 
their  meager  support.  While  it  is,  therefore,  perfectly  safe 
and  wise  to  stress  industrial  training  for  those  who  are  so 
well  provided  for  in  the  higher  sphere,  it  may  not  be  safe 
or  wise  to  stress  it  to  the  same  extent  in  the  case  of  those 
who  have  so  inadequate  a  counterbalancing  advantage  in  the 
higher  educational  field. 

That  college  and  university  education  for  negroes 
capable  of  leadership  should,  at  the  present  stage  of  race 
advancement,  receive  as  careful  attention  as  is  being  given 
to  their  common-school  and  industrial  training  will  be  ajh- 
parent  on  reflection  to  those  who  desire  to  advance  the  ne- 
gro's best  interests.  And  any  scheme  of  improvement  based 
on  the  self-interest  of  the  projectors  rather  than  on  the 
true  advancement  of  those  for  whom  it  is  projected  is  fore- 
doomed to  failure,  and  to  the  disapproval  of  right-thinking 
people. 

One  of  the  surest  and  quickest  influences  in  the  uplift 
of  an  individual,  a  community,  or  a  race,  is  to  be  found 
in  their  ideals.  Ideals  are  the  product  of  abstract  thought 
and  the  higher  intuitional  process.  They  are  not  called 
out  by  the  common-school  and  industrial  branches  unless 
the  teacher  of  those  branches  has  himself  been  quickened 
by  a  broader  training,  and  is  able  to  connect  this  elementary 
instruction  with  spiritual  ideals.  Ideals  ripen  when  the 
mind  has  passed  through  certain  phases  of  natural  and  in- 
duced development  which  are  greatly  aided  by  the  atmos- 
phere and  work  of  the  college  and  university,  by  the  thought- 
ful and  scholarly  men  who  fill  their  chairs,  and  by  the  ear- 
nest lives  of  the  students  themselves.  Institutions  of  this 
type  cannot  exist  without  high  ideals.  To  be  without  them, 
or  to  foster  those  of  a  low  and  selfish  character,  would  be  to 
perish.  To  cut  any  race  off  from,  these  influences  by  limit- 
ing their  education  to  the  common-school  and  industrial 
spheres  is  to  insure  their  future  destitution  of  those  higher 
ideals  by  which  all  races  live  and  grow. 

We  can  only  bring  the  one  race  under  the  influence  of 
proper  ideals  as  we  bring  the  other  under  them.  We  do  not 
attempt  the  impossible  task  of  supplying  college  and  uni- 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  AND  NEGRO  PROGRESS  141 

versity  training  to  the  masses  of  any  race.  We  confine  our 
efforts  to  those  exceptional  members  who  give  promise  of 
future  leadership.  We  look  to  the  trained  men  and  women 
who  come  out  of  these  higher  institutions  to  exert  an  up- 
lifting influence  on  the  thought  and  life  of  those  among 
whom  their  lot  may  be  cast.  But  the  experience  of  the  two 
races  living  side  by  side  for  the  last  half  century  convinces 
us  that  each  race  must  have  its  own  leaders  of  this  high 
type;  for  no  race  can  permanently  supply  a  satisfactory 
leadership  for  any  other  distinct  race. 

During  the  period  of  slavery  the  white  church  supplied 
the  colored  race  with  preachers.  Nowhere  now  do  we  find 
white  ministers  filling  negro  pulpits.  White  teachers,  phy- 
sicians, lawyers,  and  other  professional  men  still  minister 
largely  to  his  needs;  but  this  is  because  he  has  not  yet  had 
time  to  develop  sufficiently  for  his  own  needs  in  these  fields 
of  skilled  service.  The  time  will  come  when  he  will  meet 
his  own  needs  in  the  professions  and  supply  his  own  race 
leadership,  just  as  the  white  man  does  for  himself.  And 
it  is  the  highest  duty  and  privilege  of  those  who  help  him 
to  hasten  the  coming  of  that  time. 

The  lack  of  this  training  for  leadership  is  one  of  the 
gravest  obstacles  to  religious  progress  among  the  negroes; 
and  the  giving  of  such  training  is  one  of  our  most  difficult 
problems.  There  are  few  negroes,  comparatively,  who  are 
ready  to  profit  by  college  training;  and  the  lack  of  ideals 
in  their  elementary  education  has  set  the  faces  of  many 
among  this  small  group  in  the  direction  of  personal  ambi- 
tion rather  than  of  personal  service.  Their  whole  trend,  as 
a  race,  has  been  toward  industrialism  and  material  things ; 
there  are  no  traditions  of  scholarship  and  culture  to  inspire 
them  to  such  hard  tasks  as  the  higher  learning  imposes. 
The  time  required,  the  money,  the  self-denying  toil,  the 
sheer  will  power,  all  seem  to  them  entirely  out  of  propor- 
tion to  the  shadowy  returns  which  they  think  of  as  the  out- 
come. They  have  as  yet,  as  a  race,  neither  the  means  nor 
the  ideals  needed  to  create  higher  institutions.  There  is 
not  a  man  of  large  wealth  among  them,  according  to  our 
standards  of  measuring  wealth.    Their  material  progress 


142  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

since  the  war  has  been  marvelous ;  but  they  are  still  a  poor 
people.  But  even  if  they  had  the  money,  they  have  not  the 
history  or  personality  needed  for  this  work.  A  college  or 
university  cannot  be  made  to  order ;  it  is  a  growth,  and  must 
come  from  a  soil  long  and  well  prepared.  It  is  the  product 
of  civilization.  When  the  negro  gets  his  own  higher  in- 
stitutions, he  must  grow  them  out  of  his  own  race  life.  This 
he  will  do  in  time ;  but  it  will  not  be  to-day  nor  to-morrow ; 
and  in  the  meantime  his  progress  can  be  greatly  accelerated 
by  the  white  man's  help. 

The  Church  here  finds  her  opportunity  for  service.  She 
stands,  first  of  all,  for  the  ideal.  She  teaches  otherworld- 
liness,  and  sets  her  face  as  a  flint  against  all  materialistic 
views  of  human  life  and  destiny.  She  teaches  man  that  his 
only  valuable  possessions  are  those  of  the  mind  and  heart, 
which  moth  and  rust  do  not  corrupt,  and  which  thieves  do 
not  break  through  to  steal.  Because  of  her  faithful  wit- 
ness for  nearly  twenty  centuries  the  world  is  coming  to  see 
that  "a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the 
things  which  he  possesseth."  This  idealism  has  by  degrees 
permeated  the  philosophy  and  institutions  of  mankind.  Men 
do  not  live  up  to  it,  but  they  believe  it;  and  they  are  being 
gradually  transformed  by  it.  Our  higher  education  is  espe- 
cially indebted  to  and  dependent  on  the  Church  for  its  high 
ideals  of  life  and  citizenship.  It  is  not  necessary  that  the 
Church  should  control  this  education  in  a  physical  sense 
in  order  to  influence  it.  She  did  much  in  the  early  estab- 
lishment and  development  of  higher  institutions;  but  she 
has  done  more  in  making  it  forever  impossible  for  such  insti- 
tutions to  be  irreligious,  whether  controlled  by  the  Church 
directly,  by  the  State,  or  by  private  individuals. 

In  seeking  to  ascertain  the  nature  and  influence  of  the 
negro  church  in  relation  to  negro  progress  we  need  a  clearer 
conception  of  what  that  church  is.  We  are  apt  to  think 
of  it  as  a  reproduction  of  the  white  man's  church;  but  we 
are  mistaken.  The  negro  has  taken  his  church  and  his 
Bible  from  us;  but  he  has  at  the  same  time,  unconsciously 
and  unavoidably,  made  them  both  over  according  to  his  own 
race  ideals.    Aristotle  states  a  universal  law  when  he  says, 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  AND  NEGRO  PROGRESS  143 

"All  intellectual  teaching  is  based  on  what  is  previously- 
known  to  the  person  taught."  Not  all  our  own  knowledge 
of  the  things  of  the  Church  is  from  revelation ;  very  much 
of  it  is  the  result  of  man's  thought  and  experience.  Apos- 
tolic Christianity,  in  the  Greek  and  Koman  world,  encoun- 
tered a  vast  mass  of  material  already  given  to  men's  intel- 
lects by  Greek  philosophy  and  art,  and  by  Roman  law  and 
militarism.  The  fundamental  experiences  of  Christianity, 
such  as  the  new  birth,  are  distinct  from  former  knowledge 
or  experience;  but  it  had  to  build  its  intellectual  teaching 
on  these  things  with  which  men's  minds  were  already  filled. 
The  great  debatings  of  the  early  Church,  beginning  with 
the  Nicene  Council,  were  the  efforts  of  devout  minds  to 
vitally  connect  the  new  truths  taught  by  Christ  with  what 
the  Greek  and  Roman  world  already  knew.  Out  of  these 
discussions  came  the  creeds  and  government  which  char- 
acterized the  Church  for  over  a  thousand  years.  Some  of 
the  teaching  and  forms  evolved  by  this  blending  were  good 
and  some  bad,  as  we  who  have  fallen  heir  to  them  well  know. 
According  to  this  same  law  Christianity  came  to  the  ne- 
gro race.  The  negro  has  his  religious  beliefs  and  his  racial 
characteristics;  and  to  them  he  inevitably  adjusted  the 
Christianity  given  him  by  his  white  teachers.  Investiga- 
tions such  as  those  of  the  Atlanta  University  into  the  ne- 
gro's religious  conditions  go  to  show  that  the  negro  church 
is  different  from  the  white  church,  as  the  Church  of  En- 
gland or  the  Greek  Church  is  different  from  the  Roman.  The 
difference  is  not  so  much  denominational  as  racial.  It  is 
just  this  racial  modification  which  the  white  church,  living 
side  by  side  with  the  negro  church,  knows  too  little  about. 
But  we  may  be  sure  that  whatever  any  race  does  it  will  do 
it,  so  to  speak,  in  its  own  way,  according  to  its  own  in- 
herent characteristics  and  ideals.  We  may  not  suppose  that 
the  negro  has  gone  about  his  religious  task  according  to  any 
other  rule.  He  did  not  have,  like  the  Greek,  his  art  and 
philosophy  to  which  to  adapt  his  Christianity,  or,  like  the 
Roman,  his  imperialism ;  but  he  had,  like  the  old  Britons,  his 
heathenism ;  he  brought  his  tribal  ideas  of  government  and 
his  polygamous  ideals  of  the  family.    Traces  of  old  British 


144  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

heathen  beliefs  are  discernible  among  us  even  to-day;  and 
we  are  not  prepared  by  intimate  knowledge  of  the  negro 
church  to  say  how  far  his  former  ideals  have  been  eradi- 
cated, or  how  far  they  remain  with  him  to  influence  his 
Christian  life. 

The  white  race  should  build  up  institutions  of  the  most 
thorough  methods,  and  in  sufficient  numbers,  to  train  lead- 
ers for  the  colored  race.  As  the  church  is  the  most  potent 
influence  for  spiritual  ideals,  special  attention  should  be 
given  to  meeting  its  needs  among  the  negroes.  The  whites 
of  the  South  should  acquaint  themselves  with  these  needs, 
and  provide  for  the  training  of  ministers  and  Christian  go- 
cial  workers  capable  of  dealing  with  them.  Training  schools 
for  such  workers  should  be  established  in  connection  with 
colleges  for  negroes.  It  should  be  recognized  that  for  the 
present  a  large  per  cent  of  the  teachers  in  these  institutions 
must  be  Southern  whites,  and  must  possess  the  qualifica- 
tions necessary  for  the  best  work  in  educating  either  race. 

Important  as  social  work  is,  it  is  not  the  most  important 
feature  to  be  stressed  in  the  equipment  of  these  religious 
leaders.  They  must  deal  with  the  fundamentals  of  their 
church  life,  and  should  be  prepared  to  do  their  work  of 
reconstruction  with  discrimination  and  a  broad  comprehen- 
sion of  the  interests  involved.  The  religious  leader  of  the 
negro  race  has  before  him  a  somewhat  different  task  from 
the  religious  leader  of  the  white  race.  Much  that  is  com- 
monplace in  the  white  churches  is  seen  "through  a  glass, 
darkly,"  in  the  church  of  the  negro:  it  could  not  well  be 
otherwise.  His  opportunities  have  been  meager  to  know 
the  results  of  generations  of  research  by  Christian  scholars. 
There  are  some  notable  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but  they 
are  sadly  in  need  of  reenforcement.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
rightly  helped  in  these  early  stages  of  their  religious  de- 
velopment, who  can  say  that  the  colored  churches  may  not 
escape  much  which  in  our  own  religious  development  has 
made,  not  for  righteousness,  but  for  bigotry  and  church 
pride?  We  can  help  them  to  avoid  many  of  the  pitfalls 
which  have  retarded  our  own  progress. 


RACE  CO-OPERATION  IN  CHURCH  WORK  145 

Certainly  the  last  fifty  years,  more  than  the  preceding 
five  hundred,  have  shown  that  God's  Church  can  no  longer 
deliver  his  message  to  a  restless,  inquisitive  world  through 
unlettered  lips.  To  claim  inspiration  and  divine  authority 
as  sufficient  sanctions  for  an  uneducated  ministry  no  longer 
wins  the  respect  or  obedience  of  men.  He  who  would  have 
his  message  accepted  must  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that 
is  in  him.  Such  men  must  be  provided  for  the  negro  church ; 
only  so  will  they  be  able  to  speak  convincingly  through  the 
pulpit,  the  press,  and  the  institutional  agencies  of  that 
church. 

And  the  indirect  influence  of  the  white  church  must  not 
be  overlooked.  We  are  closely  watched,  and  judged  unspar- 
ingly. We  cannot  avoid  our  responsibility  to  the  negro 
church.  If  that  church  sees  in  ours  the  spirit  of  self-seek- 
ing, pride  of  opinion,  and  love  of  applause — ^worse  still,  if 
it  sees  in  us  something  of  that  race  prejudice  which  sepa- 
rated Jews  and  Samaritans  into  hostile  camps,  so  that  they 
had  no  dealings,  religious  or  other,  one  with  another — we 
need  not  be  surprised  if  we  see  these  evils  reproducing  them- 
selves in  the  church  that  looks  to  us  as  a  pattern  of  religious 
life.  We  need  first  of  all  and  most  of  all  to  cultivate  and 
practice  brotherly  love  to  the  brother  of  low  degree.  He 
will  appreciate  our  personal  friendship  and  Christian  sym- 
pathy more  than  anything  else  we  can  give  him :  and  when 
we  give  it,  in  Christ's  own  measure,  one  of  the  greatest  hin- 
drances to  the  progress  of  the  negro  church  will  have  van- 
ished. 


RACE  CO-OPERATION  IN  CHURCH  WORK 

BISHOP  THEODORE  D.  BRATTON,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  JACKSON,  MISS. 

The  title  of  the  address  assigned  to  me  implies  both  the 
desire  for  race  cooperation  and  the  possibility  of  it.  The  dual 
implication  is  true  to  a  very  large  and  important  extent. 
Time  is  valuable  at  these  conferences,  so  I  shall  speak  as 
briefly  as  possible.    A  historical  retrospect  will  perhaps  best 

10 


146  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

introduce  our  theme.  Racial  relations  have  their  ancient, 
mediaeval,  and  modem  periods  of  history. 

The  ancient  period  is  of  course  that  before  the  war,  be- 
ginning with  the  first  importation  of  slaves  into  the  colonies 
in  foreign  and  New  England  slave  ships,  the  settlement  of 
them  on  the  plantations  of  all  the  colonies,  the  gradual  mass- 
ing of  them  in  the  cotton  fields  of  the  South,  the  industrial 
training  after  admirable  fashion  in  fields  and  shops  in  all 
the  industries  known  to  the  period.  And  along  with  this 
industrial  training,  developing  the  finest,  healthiest,  hap- 
piest, yeomanry  in  the  world,  there  went  also  the  moral 
oversight  and  religious  training  of  the  most  superstitious 
race  that  history  records.  This  training  in  morals  and  re- 
ligion was  done  through  the  personal  work  of  masters,  mis- 
tresses, pastors,  and  teachers.  It  resulted  in  a  relationship 
of  confidence  and  affection  unique  in  the  annals  of  the  his- 
tory of  slavery.  What  a  tragic  wrenching  of  the  old  ties 
resulted  from  the  Civil  War  is  still  remembered  by  the  com- 
paratively few. 

The  mediasval  period  began  the  tragedy  of  these  sun- 
dered relations,  but  with  love  and  confidence  unimpaired, 
and  rather  intensified  by  the  unexampled  loyalty  and  devo- 
tion of  slaves  who  loved  their  masters  as  themselves,  and 
proved  it  during  four  years  of  confounding  turmoil  and 
rapine  and  bloodshed.  What  the  result  would  have  been 
had  the  emancipated  owners  and  slaves  been  permitted  to 
cement  new  relations  and  work  out  in  their  own  way  their 
destiny  under  conditions  of  freedom,  no  one  may  declare 
with  certainty.  But  one  fancies  that  with  the  old  relations 
as  a  foundation,  the  mutual  devotion  as  a  motive,  the  su- 
preme debt  of  mutual  gratitude  as  an  incentive,  race  co- 
operation would  have  been  made  easy,  and  mediaeval  his- 
tory would  have  been  a  far  different  story  from  that  which 
the  Reconstruction  historian  has  recorded.  I  can  well  recall 
the  results  of  the  Reconstruction  acts ;  the  utter  distrust  of 
one  another  on  the  part  of  North  and  South;  the  impos- 
sibility of  mutual  understanding  between  sections  which  in- 
terpreted each  other  upon  a  priori  theories  of  their  own  in- 
vention; the,  at  first,  utter  confusion  of  the  negro  race, 


RACE  CO-OPERATION  IN  CHURCH  WORK  147 

gradually  settling  into  an  unreasoned  fear  of  the  former 
master,  which  took  refuge  in  the  sympathy  of  strangers,  a 
sympathy  engendered  by  a  fanaticism  unequaled  save  by  the 
Crusaders;  the  breaking  of  ties  of  friendship  of  races  in 
the  South,  a  tragedy  akin  to  that  of  the  Gethsemane  of 
agony;  the  alliance  of  North  and  negro,  resulting  in  a 
unique  experiment  as  disastrous  as  it  was  unwise,  as  transi- 
tory as  it  was  misguided. 

I  do  not  question  the  motives  of  any  of  the  fathers  who 
inaugurated  this  reign  of  anarchy.  It  seems  necessary  to 
record  the  facts  of  the  past  to  understand  the  conditions  of 
the  present.  When  the  period  began,  whites  and  blacks 
were  worshiping,  in  very  many  instances,  in  the  same 
churches,  and  often,  where  separate  buildings  were  pro- 
vided, were  ministered  to  by  the  same  pastors.  When  the 
period  closed  (say  about  1895),  separation  had  become  the 
rule,  the  negro  members  of  white  churches  had  almost  com- 
pletely withdrawn  and  formed  organizations  of  their  owti, 
committing  themselves  to  the  generally  untutored  pastors 
of  their  own  race,  who  no  longer  looked  to  the  counsel  and 
guidance  of  more  capable  leadership  than  their  own  race 
afforded.  Politically  the  negro  had  been  practically  anni- 
hilated, and  religiously  he  had  emancipated  himself  from  his 
best  guide.  Meanwhile  both  North  and  South  had  been 
busy  with  the  education  of  the  race — ^the  former  through 
private  and  religious  schools,  the  latter  generally  through 
the  public  school  system  and  in  small  part  through  parochial 
schools — both  together  preparing  for  what  I  have  called  the 
modern  period  of  racial  history. 

The  modem  period  opens  thus  with  these  conditions  in 
the  main  fairly  well  established :  racial  separation,  which  is 
now,  I  think,  very  generally  accepted  as  the  best  condition 
of  racial  development;  a  well-developed,  educated,  and  cul- 
tured class  among  the  negroes,  and  a  like  industrial  class 
overlapping  the  former,  though  not  always  identical  with 
it.  Whether  racial  separation  be  willingly  accepted  or  not, 
it  is  the  condition  which  must  be  assumed  as  permanent 
when  the  subject  of  racial  relationship  and  cooperation  is 
discussed. 


148  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  time  would  arrive  when  the 
old  slaveholders  and  tJheir  slaves  would  pass  away  and  the 
old  regime  pass  into  history.  Until  then  it  was  unnatural 
to  expect  that  the  races  could  even  begin  accurately  to  ad- 
just their  relations  under  conditions  of  freedom.  The  old 
personal  ties,  made  by  generations  of  increasingly  closer 
sympathy  through  oneness  of  life's  interest,  and  intensified 
by  the  advancing  years  of  the  survivors  of  the  rapidly  pass- 
ing old  regime,  rendered  it  quite  impossible  for  the  older 
generations  of  whites  and  negroes  to  look  upon  one  another 
merely  as  representatives  of  two  distinct  peoples.  Now, 
however,  the  young  people  of  the  two  races  are  face  to  face 
under  new  conditions,  with  nothing  left  of  the  past  save 
traditions  to  color  the  relationship  of  the  present.  This  re- 
lationship is  going  to  be  affected  according  as  slavery  is 
viewed  on  the  one  hand  as  a  providential  opportunity  for 
both  races,  bearing  appropriate  responsibilities  for  each,  or 
on  the  other  hand  as  an  unwarranted  interference  with 
Providence,  in  which  the  strong  took  advantage  of  the  weak, 
and  still  claimed  rights  to  the  unrighteous  spoils  of  their 
wickedness.  Doubtless  there  was  unrighteousness  in  the 
inception  of  it,  but  I  cannot  believe  that  any  right-thinking 
representatives  of  either  race  will  fail  to  see  the  hand  of  God 
in  it  all.  There  is  no  negro  student  of  history  and  of  God's 
guidance  of  his  world  but  will  know  that,  in  spite  of  the 
changes  and  chances  of  its  history  in  America,  it  was  God's 
mercifully  overruling  providence  that  has  brought  the  negro 
race  out  of  darkness  into  a  light  that  has  shown,  not  only 
upon  themselves  here,  but  into  the  far  darker  recesses  of 
their  native  Africa.  There  are  few  among  their  worthy  lead- 
ers who  do  not  realize  that  it  was  the  love  of  the  Master  in 
the  hearts  of  his  Anglo-Saxon  children,  through  their  close 
relationship  with  their  negro  people,  which  set  ablaze  the 
torch  of  Christian  devotion  and  missionary  zeal  which  is 
busy  both  here  and  in  Africa. 

And  so  too  there  can  be,  I  think,  no  right-thinking  leader 
among  the  white  race  who  does  not  look  upon  the  presence 
of  the  negroes  in  our  land  as  a  responsibility  which  is  an 
inheritance  from  the  fathers  just  as  natural  as  his  love  of 


RACE  CO-OPERATION  IN  CHURCH  WORK  149 

fatherland  and  just  as  binding  upon  his  conscience.  God 
,grant  that  it  may  more  and  more  become  a  duty  just  as 
congenial  as  his  patriotism  and  as  stimulating  as  his  Chris- 
tian obligations.  There  are  none  of  us,  I  venture  to  be- 
lieve, who  know  anything  of  the  story  of  fifty  years  ago 
who  will  want  to  repudiate  the  debt  of  gratitude  which 
this  then  untutored  race  laid  upon  us  by  their  devotion  and 
loyalty  to  mothers  and  sisters  and  wives  and  babies. 

We  began  the  modern  period  only  a  few  years  ago.  We 
may  more  truly  be  said  to  be  in  process  of  beginning  it 
now.  The  solemn  sacred  responsibility  which  rests  upon 
the  living  generation  of  strong  young  men  and  women  is 
that,  not  of  settling  and  fixing  the  final  relationship  of 
races,  but  of  contributing  so  clearly,  so  surely,  so  consci- 
entiously to  that  which  is  the  product  of  a  living  associa- 
tion, that  the  generations  which  are  growing  up  under  our 
own,  and  shall  succeed  it,  will  have  clear  rays  of  guidance 
for  the  solving  of  the  problems  which  will  inevitably  face 
them. 

I  speak  of  race  relationship  as  the  product  of  a  living 
association,  and  so  it  is.  It  cannot  be  made  by  a  priori  the- 
ories invented  in  the  student's  study;  it  is  an  experiment 
in  the  laboratory  of  life,  and  must  be  tested,  as  all  scientific 
problems  are,  by  experience. 

I  place  first,  before  all  living  forces  else,  the  power  of 
cooperative  religion  to  solve  this  problem  of  race  relation- 
ship, as  indeed  all  other  moral  problems.  Where,  then,  shall 
we  begin?  First  I  should  say  let  us  begin  here  with  our- 
selves. We  of  the  white  race  must  first  of  all  recognize 
that  we  have  a  Christian  faith  beyond  any  possibility  of 
cavil  or  controversy,  founded  upon  an  enduring  Rock  that 
cannot  be  shaken;  that  we  have  had  full  twelve  centuries 
more  of  the  edifying  power  of  this  faith  in  our  racial  life 
than  our  negro  brother  has  had ;  that  we  recognize  in  these 
two  facts  a  responsibility  incalculably  great ;  that  we  realize 
it  the  more  as  we  face  this  very  large  and  important  Africa 
which  has  been  brought  by  our  own  ancestors  to  our  land 
and  home;  that  we  accept  this  as  an  opportunity  unspeak- 
ably solemn.    Here  at  our  doors,  handily  within  reach,  is  a 


150  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

large  segment  of  a  great  race,  children  like  ourselves  of 
God,  the  Father  of  all,  to  be  builded  up  in  morals,  in  spir- 
itual knowledge,  in  character,  through  the  same  faith  that 
has  transformed  our  own  primitive  savage  Anglo-Saxon 
people  of  sixteen  hundred  years  ago  into  the  modern  na- 
tions of  which  our  own  America,  so  new  as  she  is,  is  perhaps 
now  the  greatest  development.  Such  a  consciousness  of  a 
responsibility  in  ourselves  and  of  opportunity  for  them  is 
the  starting  point  for  cooperation  with  our  negro  brethren 
in  the  Lord  in  Church  work. 

Then  next  there  is  the  contact,  always  welcomed  by  the 
negro  race,  which  preachers  and  teachers  may  profitably 
have  with  them  through  the  pulpits  and  Sunday  schools  of 
their  churches,  and  through  the  many  secular  schools,  some 
of  them  private  or  incorporated,  throughout  the  land.  I 
have  yet  to  find  one  of  them  that  does  not  welcome  the 
white  preacher  or  teacher  or  lay  friend  who  is  known  to 
be  really  interested  in  the  upward  development  of  the  race, 
and  who  comes  with  love  in  his  heart  and  the  desire  to 
help. 

The  negro  is  the  most  religious  race  in  the  world,  and 
it  is  a  great  mistake  to  assume  that  he  is  now,  or  will  be  in 
the  future,  satisfied  with  any  form  of  religious  emotion  that 
will  feed  his  superstition.  This  may  be  true  of  the  very 
ignorant,  though  I  do  not  believe  that  anybody  has  suffi- 
ciently tested  the  matter  to  assert  such  as  a  fact.  But  I  do 
know  that  there  is  a  large  element  rapidly  increasing  among 
the  race  who  read  and  think,  and  who  are  satisfied  with 
nothing  short  of  the  best  that  approves  itself  to  their  God- 
given  reason  and  religious  faculty.  I  know,  too,  that  among 
the  great  army  of  preachers  and  teachers  who  minister  to 
them  there  must  be,  there  certainly  are,  many  ignorant 
ones  and  some  unworthy  to  bear  the  lamp  of  the  Master's 
religion.  I  know  that  this  fact  is  responsible  for  the  in- 
creasing number  of  young  men  and  women,  in  most  of  our 
communities,  who  are  without  church  affiliations.  One  of 
the  ablest  and  strongest  of  the  commercial  leaders  of  the 
race  said  to  me :  "Our  young  men  and  women  are  often  not 
joining  the  churches  around  them."     Asked  why,  he  re- 


r 


RACE  CO-OPERATION  IN  CHURCH  WORK  151 

plied :  "Because,  while  the  young  people  have  been  steadily- 
advancing  in  education  and  culture,  the  churches  of  their 
fathers  have  advanced  not  at  all  in  thirty  years." 

What  is  to  happen  if  this  religious  race  loses  the  guidance 
of  religion  at  this  stage  of  its  development,  and  becomes  ir- 
religious to  the  extent  that  our  Anglo-Saxon  race  has? 
How  many  books,  good  or  bad,  do  you  suppose  may  be 
found  in  the  library  of  the  average  preacher  of  the  race? 
How  many  in  the  homes  of  the  average  teacher?  What 
are  the  minds  with  which  they  come  in  religious  contact? 
Whence  the  sources  of  inspiration  for  preaching  and  teach- 
ing? If  God,  the  blessed  Paraclete,  should  shut  out  his 
mercies  from  them,  how  dark  the  picture !  If  they,  through 
ignorance  or  sinfulness,  should  close  up  the  avenues  of 
divine  inspiration,  because  thrown  back  upon  self  alone, 
without  higher,  wiser  counsel  than  their  own  souls,  so  young 
to  Christian  precept,  what  indeed  can  be  expected  of  in- 
structions from  such  a  source? 

Here,  then,  is  the  opportunity  for  race  cooperation,  the 
golden  opportunity  at  the  beginning  of  this  new  era  when 
race  faces  race,  with  racial  prejudice  stripped  of  the  soft- 
ening influences  of  the  old  sympathy,  passing  away,  well- 
nigh  gone,  but  which  must  be  replaced  by  that  which  the 
religion  of  the  Nazarene,  and  that  alone,  can  create.  Here 
is  the  opportunity  for  good  people  in  the  churches,  preach- 
ers and  teachers  and  others,  to  lend  a  helping  hand,  to 
mingle  with  preachers  and  teachers  of  the  negro  race,  and 
to  seek  occasion  for  brotherly  counsel,  for  guidance  oft- 
times,  for  instruction  just  as  often.  How  many  of  you 
who  are  preachers  have  ever  sought  opportunity  to  be  of 
such  assistance  to  your  negro  brother?  How  many  of  you 
who  are  Sunday  school  or  secular  teachers  have  sought  such 
opportunity  through  avenues  common  to  yourselves  and 
them? 

And,  finally,  there  is  that  which  must  give  grace  and 
power  to  every  effort  at  race  cooperation.  Let  us,  brother 
men,  resolve  to  live  the  gospel  of  the  Christ  more  fully  and 
more  truly  in  our  relations  with  this  struggling,  developing 
negro  race.     Let  us  squarely  face  the  paradoxes  of  our 


152  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

social  and  moral  relations  with  them.  I  state  some  of  them 
quite  at  random.  How  flippantly  is  the  race  spoken  of  as 
ignorant  and  vicious  by  the  white  man  who  would  deny 
him  a  school  and  herd  his  family  in  a  one-room  hut!  How 
contemptuously  is  the  educated  negro  condemned  as  spoiled 
for  all  practical  purposes  by  the  man  who  regards  his  edu- 
cation as  an  impertinence!  How  hard  is  the  condemnation 
of  the  immorality  of  the  negro  by  the  man  who  if  called 
upon  in  court  to  protect  the  daughter  of  his  negro  neighbor 
from  the  lust  of  a  bestial  white  man  acquits  the  white  man 
upon  the  plea  that  negroes  have  no  morals !  How  often  is  the 
filth  of  the  race  scornfully  exploited  by  the  man  who  would 
not  raise  one  finger  to  remove  it,  yet  who  could  not  live 
peacefully  for  a  day  without  a  cook  or  a  nurse !  How  cruel 
is  the  accusation  that  all  negroes  will  steal,  by  the  man  who 
unhesitatingly  stakes  him  as  a  cropper  for  a  year,  sure  of 
repayment  and  profits  at  its  close! 

We  are  straining  at  gnats  and  swallowing  camels  as 
certain  men  of  old  did  and  deserve  the  condemnation  of  the 
righteous  Master  of  our  souls. 

Let  us  try  to  live  our  Christian  creed  in  every  relation 
we  bear  to  the  race,  and  then  do  our  utmost  to  influence 
our  brethren  to  live  it.  If  there  are  ignorance  and  vice, 
as  certainly  there  are  in  this  race  so  young  in  self-control, 
let  us  put  scoffing  aside  and  bend  our  spiritual  energies  to 
the  task  of  helping  to  cure  them.  If  there  is  growing 
culture  in  a  class  ready  to  receive  and  to  profit  by  it  and 
to  become  examples  of  it  to  less  fortunate  brethren,  let  us 
commend  it  and  make  the  most  and  the  best  of  it,  gladly 
recognizing  merit,  and  rejoicing  in  it  as  the  appropriate 
fruit  of  the  Master's  regenerating  grace.  If  there  is  im- 
morality, let  us  remember  the  youth  of  the  race  with  moral 
sinews  to  be  developed  and  strengthened  and  moral  sense 
to  be  awakened;  and  above  all,  let  us  not  shut  our  eyes  to 
the  share  which  our  own  race  contributes,  and  if  con- 
demnation be  meted,  as  it  must  in  justice  and  for  ultimate 
mercy  be  meted,  let  us  place  the  responsibility  upon  each 
race  in  the  just  measure  of  its  guilt,  with  just  regard  for 
the  responsibility  which  attaches  to  opportunity  for  devel- 


RACE  C50-0PERATI0N  IN  CHURCH  WORK  153 

opment  and  self-control  and  self-command.  If  there  be 
controlled  immorality,  as  certainly  there  is  in  an  increasing 
number  who  earnestly  strive  to  keep  their  families  pure  and 
undefiled,  surely  good  men  must  rejoice  in  it.  What  a 
tragedy  this  effort  for  personal  purity  upon  the  part  of  the 
really  good  negro  presents,  is  a  spectacle  which  every  close 
student  of  the  race  has  beheld.  The  blessed  Master,  whose 
servants  we  are,  came  to  lift  up  the  fallen,  to  heal  their 
diseases,  to  minister  to  the  poor.  He  who  made  of  one 
blood  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  came  to  his  own.  What 
he  did,  we  must  do.  "We  must  obey  God  rather  than  man." 
We  must  shut  our  ears  to  the  vain  protests  of  the  worldly. 
We  must  decline  to  be  influenced  by  the  discouragements 
with  which  a  superficial  observation  surrounds  us.  We 
must  be  perfectly  sure  that  this  regeneration  of  a  great 
race  of  our  fellow-men  is  God's  task,  committed  to  his  loyal, 
faithful  children  of  both  races.  We  must  realize  that  it  is 
not  the  task  of  a  day  or  of  a  few  years;  that  the  upward 
climb  of  a  race  is  upon  a  long,  weary,  toilsome  pathway 
through  generations  of  tragedies.  Thus  it  has  been  and 
still  is  with  the  races  of  man  ahead  of  the  negro.  And 
while  we  rejoice  at  the  wonderful  progress  which  the  negro 
has  made  during  these  few  years  of  independent  struggle, 
we  dare  not  close  our  eyes  to  the  steep  and  rugged  pathway 
which  his  own  weakness  and  newness  and  unrighteousness 
are  the  more  clearly  revealing.  Meanwhile,  let  not  the  sin 
of  the  stronger  magnify  the  pain  and  toil  and  anguish  of 
the  road.  May  God  both  inspire  and  empower  the  chivalry 
of  our  own  race  that  its  strength  may  bend  to  the  other's 
weakness  and  its  sympathy  reach  forth  with  divine  com- 
passion toward  their  need! 


154  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


THE  SOUTHERN  SOCIOLOGICAL  CONGRESS  AS  A 
FACTOR  FOR  SOCIAL  WELFARE 

BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON,  LL.D.,  TUSKEGEE,  ALA. 

On  behalf  of  the  members  of  my  race  who  are  here  and 
on  behalf  also  of  those  who  are  not  here,  I  wish  to  express 
the  deep  gratitude  which  we  feel  toward  Mrs.  Anna  Russell 
Cole,  the  founder  of  this  organization,  for  her  generosity 
and  foresight  in  making  such  a  meeting  as  this  possible. 

I  wish  also  to  make  known  our  gratitude  to  Governor 
Mann,  Dr.  McCulloch,  and  other  leaders  who  are  devoting 
themselves  with  such  unflagging  enthusiasm  to  the  task  of 
making  this  great  organization  practically  useful  to  both 
races  in  the  South. 

In  the  brief  space  that  has  been  allotted  to  me  on  this 
program,  I  want  to  speak  of  some  special  ways  in  which  it 
seems  to  me  this  Congress  can  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
people  of  the  South. 

First  of  all,  it  can  serve  as  a  medium  for  direct  and 
candid  expression  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  the  members 
of  both  races  in  regard  to  matters  of  common  interest. 
No  one  living  in  the  South,  or  out  of  the  South,  should 
expect  everything  to  be  done  in  a  day.  When  we  consider 
all  that  the  South  has  been  called  upon  to  do  and  to  bear 
in  connection  with  the  readjustment  of  its  economic  and 
social  program,  the  wonder  is  that  so  much  has  been  ac- 
complished within  so  brief  a  space  of  time.  What  we  want 
to  be  sure  of  is  that  progress  in  the  right  direction  is  con- 
stant and  steady.  One  direction  in  which  meetings  of  this 
kind  can  help  is  in  bringing  about  a  better  understanding 
between  the  races.  In  spite  of  difficulties  that  grow  out 
of  the  situation  in  the  South,  the  races  have  many  funda- 
mental interests  in  common  and  there  is  much  that  should 
be  done  for  the  welfare  of  each  race  which  can  only  be  done 
with  the  hearty  cooperation  of  both. 

How  can  the  negro  in  the  South  do  his  part,  through 
this  organization,  to  bring  about  better  conditions?    The 


A  FACTOR  FOR  SOCIAL  WELFARE  155 

leaders  of  our  people,  for  example,  can  do  much  to  spread 
the  influence  of  this  meeting  to  all  parts  of  the  South. 
They  can  let  the  masses  of  the  people  know  that  there  is 
an  organization  made  up  of  Southern  white  people  who  are 
interested  in  their  welfare,  to  whom  they  can  speak  frankly 
about  their  desires  and  their  needs.  The  influence  of  this 
meeting  spread  abroad  among  the  masses  of  the  colored 
people  will  lead  them  to  feel  that  the  South  is  their  home, 
and  that  they  have  a  share,  no  matter  how  humble,  in 
all  its  weal  and  woe,  in  everything  that  concerns  its  welfare. 

We  should  learn  from  this  meeting,  all  of  us,  to  mani- 
fest as  much  pride  in  whatever  concerns  our  own  com- 
munity, our  own  city,  or  our  own  State  as  the  white  people 
do.  We  should  feel  as  much  humiliation  on  account  of  any- 
thing that  hurts  the  reputation  of  the  community  in  which 
we  live  as  is  true  of  the  white  race. 

In  the  past,  I  fear  that  the  white  people  and  the  black 
people  have  talked  too  much  about  each  other  and  not 
enough  to  each  other.  We  can  use  this  Congress  as  a 
means  of  appealing  directly  to  the  white  people.  There  are 
certain  things  we  want  them  to  do.  The  simplest  and  most 
practical  way  is  to  go  frankly  to  the  white  people  of  the 
South  and  ask  for  what  we  want. 

In  every  county  of  the  South  the  colored  people  should 
get  hold  of  the  city,  county,  and  State  officials  and  make  it 
possible  for  them  to  see  the  better  life  of  our  race.  It  is 
most  important  that  we  get  hold  of  the  Governor,  sheriffs, 
judges,  and  other  officials  and  bring  them  into  direct  con- 
tact with  the  needs  and  conditions  of  our  people.  Our  lead- 
ers can  use  this  organization  for  making  it  easier  for  the 
liberal-minded  white  people  who  are  desirous  of  helping  us 
to  come  into  contact  with  us  in  a  manner  that  will  not 
embarrass  them. 

We  have  friends  among  the  Southern  white  people.  You 
will  hardly  find  a  colored  man  in  the  South,  no  matter  how 
humble,  and  no  matter,  I  was  going  to  say,  how  worthless, 
who  has  not  some  white  friend  to  whom  he  is  accustomed 
to  go  when  he  is  in  trouble.  It  is  these  friendships  between 
individual  white  people  and  individual  black  people  which 
form  the  basis  for  cooperation  between  the  races. 


156  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

We  can  use  this  organization  to  create  a  sentiment 
among  our  people  throughout  the  South  which  will  serve  to 
stop  so  much  crime.  In  spite  of  all  that  may  be  said  in 
palliation,  there  is  too  much  crime  committed  by  our  people 
in  all  parts  of  the  country.  We  should  let  the  world  under- 
stand that  we  are  not  going  to  hide  crime  simply  because 
it  is  committed  by  black  people. 

We  can  use  this  Congress,  too,  in  a  way  to  impress  upon 
the  white  people  throughout  the  South  that  education  does 
not  unfit  us  for  the  common  labors  and  duties  of  life;  but 
in  proportion  as  we  get  education  we  will  be  more  useful 
in  field  and  shop,  in  kitchen  and  laundry,  as  teachers,  and 
in  every  walk  of  life. 

We  can  use  this  Congress  to  let  the  world  understand 
that  in  proportion  as  the  negro  is  educated  he  does  not  wish 
to  intermingle  with  the  white  people  in  a  purely  social 
way;  but  in  proportion  as  the  negro  gets  intelligence  he 
finds  happiness  and  satisfaction  in  social  intercourse  with 
members  of  his  own  race. 

We  can  use  this  Congress  to  impress  the  world  with  the 
idea  that  we  are  proud  of  being  negroes,  and  this  pride 
should  increase  in  proportion  as  the  negro  goes  forward  in 
all  the  useful  lines  of  our  civilization. 

How  can  the  white  man  use  this  Congress  in  promoting 
better  conditions  between  the  races  in  the  South? 

First,  it  can  be  used,  as  I  have  suggested,  as  a  medium 
through  which  white  people  may  get  acquainted  with  the 
most  useful  and  best  typeof  black  people  in  every  community. 
The  average  white  man,  I  sometimes  fear,  knows  more 
about  the  criminal  negro  than  he  does  about  the  law-abiding, 
self-respecting,  and  successful  negro. 

The  white  people  can  use  this  Congress  to  help  advertise 
the  better  side  rather  than  the  worse  side  of  negro  life 
throughout  the  South.  Too  much  space,  I  often  fear,  is 
given  in  newspapers  to  reports  covering  negro  crime  and 
not  enough  to  reports  covering  the  useful  living  and  striv- 
ings of  our  race. 

This  Congress  can  be  used  to  put  in  motion  a  public 
sentiment  throughout  the  South  that  will  insist  that  in  the 
courts  the  negro  may  be  sure  of  equal  justice.    The  average 


A  FACTOR  FOR  SOCIAL  WELFARE  157 

black  man  has  a  notion  that  the  court  is  a  place  of  punish- 
-ment  rather  than  a  place  of  protection.  The  total  amount 
of  time  the  best  white  people  of  the  South  lose  every  year 
in  dealing  with  petty  negro  crime  through  the  courts,  if 
it  were  reckoned  up,  would  represent  a  sum  so  large  as  to 
be  startling.  This  Congress,  directly  and  indirectly,  can 
do  much  to  stop  the  practice  of  arresting  so  many  of  our 
people  for  petty  and  trivial  offenses,  all  of  which  impose 
a  tremendous  burden  upon  black  people  and  white  people 
in  every  community  throughout  the  South. 

This  Congress  can  be  used  as  a  means  of  letting  the  peo- 
ple throughout  the  country  know  that  the  educated  negro 
seldom  commits  crime,  and  in  proportion  as  we  get  more 
education  and  better  education  the  cost  of  punishing  crim- 
inals will  disappear. 

This  Congress  can  be  used  in  creating  a  sentiment  in 
every  county  in  favor  of  better  schools  for  negro  children. 
It  is  often  said  that  education  for  the  negro  has  been  a 
failure.  We  cannot  say  that  a  policy  has  failed  until  it 
has  been  actually  tried.  Education  for  the  negro,  especially 
in  the  rural  districts,  has  not  been  tried  in  any  effective 
way  or  upon  a  comprehensive  scale.  I  say  this  although  I 
am  fully  aware  that  in  many  counties  it  is  poverty  which 
retards  white  education  as  well  as  negro  education. 

The  negro  is  going  to  get  some  kind  of  education  at  the 
hands  of  somebody,  somewhere  and  at  some  time ;  and  I  be- 
lieve the  time  has  come  when  the  white  officials  in  every 
county  should  become  the  leaders  and  guides  in  the  matter 
of  giving  to  every  negro  child  an  opportunity  to  get  a  com- 
mon school  education.  The  Sociological  Congress  can  do 
much  to  encourage  the  colored  people  in  what  they  are  do- 
ing to  educate  themselves,  and  to  guide  and  foster  every 
effort  that  is  being  made,  from  whatever  direction,  to  im- 
prove the  colored  people  and  make  them  valuable  and  use- 
ful citizens  of  the  communities  in  which  they  live. 

As  no  color  line  is  drawn  in  the  courts  in  the  matter  of 
punishing  crime,  neither  should  any  color  line  be  drawn  in 
the  opportunity  to  get  education  in  the  public  schools.  The 
schools  can  always  be  supported  out  of  the  return  that  they 


158  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BE-^TERMENT 

bring  to  the  State  in  the  form  of  more  efficient  labor  and 
better  social  order.  The  more  money  spent  in  educating 
the  negro  child,  the  less  the  State  will  have  to  pay  for  pun- 
ishing crime.  It  should  be  the  aim  of  this  organization,  in 
connection  with  those  who  are  directing  the  schools,  to 
prove  to  the  South  that  education  is  one  of  the  best  invest- 
ments that  any  country  can  make. 

The  white  leaders  in  attendance  on  this  Congress  can 
use  their  influence  in  seeing  to  it  that  the  negro  gets  fairer 
and  more  just  treatment  on  the  railroads  throughout  the 
South.  In  this  connection  I  cannot  forbear  to  commend  to 
other  portions  of  the  South  what  has  been  done  in  the  city 
of  Memphis  at  the  Union  Station  in  providing  adequate, 
comfortable,  and  even  attractive  accommodations  for  col- 
ored passengers.  The  time  has  come,  too,  when  the  strong 
white  leaders  of  the  South  should  no  longer  permit  the  ne- 
gro to  be  used  as  a  political  "scarecrow."  Too  many  selfish 
politicians  have  used  the  negro  as  a  political  "bogey  man"  in 
a  way  to  deceive  white  people,  and  even  to  discourage  some 
of  the  best  black  people  in  their  communities.  The  negro 
is  not  seeking  either  social  equality  or  political  domination 
over  the  white  man  in  any  section  of  the  South. 

I  want  to  see  both  races  advance  in  the  South.  I  have 
no  racial  prejudice.  I  want  to  see  the  negro  lifted  up  for 
his  own  sake,  but  just  as  emphatically  do  I  want  to  see  the 
negro  lifted  up  for  the  sake  of  the  white  man.  I  was  born 
a  slave  here  in  the  South.  I  love  the  South,  and  no  white 
man  can  excel  me  in  my  devotion  to  the  South.  But  I  am 
aware  of  the  fact  that  so  long  as  the  white  man  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  race  that  is  in  a  large  measure  ignorant, 
weak,  and  in  poverty,  so  long  will  the  white  man  be  tempted 
to  injure  himself  by  unjust  treatment  of  the  weaker  race 
by  which  he  is  surrounded.  So  long  as  there  are  hordes  of 
ignorant  colored  women  in  any  community,  so  long  will  they 
prove  a  temptation  for  some  of  the  best  white  men  of  the 
South  to  degrade  themselves. 

There  are  millions  of  black  people  throughout  the  world. 
Everywhere,  especially  in  Europe,  people  are  looking  to  us 
here  in  the  South,  black  and  white,  to  show  to  the  world 


INTER-RACIAL  INTERESTS  IN  INDUSTRY  159 

how  it  is  possible  for  two  races,  different  in  color,  to  live 
together  on  the  same  soil,  under  the  same  laws,  and  each 
race  work  out  its  salvation  in  justice  to  the  other. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood.  Tremendous  prog- 
ress in  all  these  directions  has  been  made  within  the  last 
fifty  years.  I  speak  as  I  do  with  frankness,  and  yet  with 
love,  because  I  want  to  see  still  greater  progress  brought- 
about. 

The  negro  here  in  the  South,  supported  and  encouraged 
as  he  is  by  the  best  element  of  the  white  people,  has  made 
progress  in  getting  property,  education,  and  a  high  Chris- 
tian character  that  is  not  approached  by  any  similar  group 
of  black  people  in  Christendom.  We  must  go  on,  patiently 
but  courageously,  year  by  year,  devoting  our  best  energies 
to  the  great  big  things,  the  fundamental  things  that  under- 
lie the  progress  and  civilization  of  white  people  and  black 
people  throughout  the  South. 

And  this  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  in  my  opin- 
ion, as  one  of  the  great  mediums  in  God's  providence,  has 
been  brought  into  existence  for  this  purpose. 


INTER-RACIAL  INTERESTS  IN  INDUSTRY 

MA  J.  ROBERT  RUSSA  MOTON,  HAMPTON,  VA. 

The  Census  of  1910  shows  that  two  out  of  every  five  per- 
sons engaged  in  gainful  occupations  in  the  sixteen  Southern 
States  are  negroes.  Of  the  entire  negro  population  in  these 
sixteen  States,  we  find  that  63  per  cent  are  in  some  form 
of  industrial  occupations,  while  only  47  per  cent  of  the 
white  people  are  thus  engaged.  Of  all  the  negroes  who  are 
engaged  in  industrial  activities,  60  per  cent  are  agricultural 
workers.  It  will  be  observed,  then,  that  the  large  majority 
of  industrial  workers  in  the  South  are  on  the  land,  and  this 
is  especially  hopeful  so  far  as  the  negro  is  concerned.  It  is 
also  significant  that  the  number  of  negroes  engaged  as  agri- 
cultural laborers  is  about  the  same  as  it  was  fifty  years  ago, 


160  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

though  the  negro  population  has  increased  nearly  150  per 
cent  during  that  period.  Something  like  a  million  negroes 
have,  therefore,  developed  from  agricultural  laborers  to 
farmers,  there  being  according  to  the  Census  of  1910  some- 
thing like  890,000  in  this  class.  After  all  of  the  efforts  that 
have  been  made  to  induce  foreign  immigration  to  settle  in 
the  South,  less  than  5  per  cent  have  so  far  availed  them- 
selves of  the  opportunities  offered,  and  a  large  portion  of 
that  5  per  cent  has  settled  in  the  cities  of  the  South.  The 
negro  must  be  very  largely  depended  upon  to  supply  all  the 
demands  for  labor  in  agricultural  as  well  as  domestic  lines. 
According  to  reliable  statistics,  he  has  not  only  hitherto 
done  this  more  or  less  acceptably,  but  he  has  also  gone 
rapidly  into  the  fields  of  skilled  and  semi-skilled  laborers. 
He  is,  therefore,  an  indispensable  factor  in  the  present  and 
future  development  of  our  Southern  States. 
Mr.  Wright  says:* 

During  the  past  fifty  years  ,  .  .  there  have  been  significant 
changes  in  unskilled  labor  among  negroes,  some  of  which  are  here 
enumerated : 

1.  The  race,  then  largely  unskilled,  has  developed  more  than  a 
million  semi-skilled  workers,  business  and  professional  men  and 
women. 

2.  The  standard  of  the  unskilled  worker  himself  has  been  raised. 

3.  The  unskilled  worker  has  adapted  himself  to  a  system  of  wages, 
as  against  a  system  of  slavery. 

4.  The  average  of  intelligence  of  unskilled  labor  has  been  greatly 
increased. 

5.  Unskilled  labor  has  become  more  reliable. 

6.  The  negro  labor  has  survived  the  competition  of  the  immigrant. 

7.  Unskilled  labor  has  to  a  large  extent  been  the  foundation  on 
which  negro  businesses,  the  negro  church,  and  the  negro  secret  society 
have  grown  up. 

One  reasonably  familiar  with  the  situation  does  not  doubt 
that  the  South  within  the  next  few  decades,  because  of  its 
splendid  soil  and  climate,  its  abundant  rainfall,  its  special 
adaptation  to  the  raising  of  cotton,  its  new  and  growing 
spirit  of  enterprise  which  demands  modem  scientific  meth- 
ods of  agriculture,  will  become  one  of  the  most  important 


♦"Annals  American  Academy,"  page  21. 


INTER-RACIAL  INTERESTS  IN  INDUSTRY  161 

agricultural  sections  of  the  nation  and  the  world.  It  is 
therefore  important  not  only  that  labor  and  capital  should 
work  in  harmony,  but  it  is  even  more  important  that  there 
should  be  inter-racial  sympathy  and  cooperation  along  all 
lines  of  economic  and  civic  endeavor. 

Thoughtful  negroes  as  well  as  thoughtful  white  men  are 
agreed  that  the  South  offers  the  largest  opportunity  for  the 
negro,  economically,  socially,  and  morally.  It  is  also  agreed 
by  thoughtful  people,  black  and  white,  that  the  rural  dis- 
tricts in  the  South  offer  the  greatest  opportunity  for  the 
masses  of  colored  people.    It  is  fair  to  assume  then — 

1.  That,  for  the  present  at  least,  the  South  cannot  de- 
pend on  foreign  immigrants  for  its  farm  operatives,  its  do- 
mestic and  personal  service,  and  its  unskilled  and  semi- 
skilled labor. 

2.  That  it  must  depend  on  the  negro  for  the  present  and 
the  very  distant  future  to  recruit  the  ranks  of  this  form  of 
labor. 

3.  That,  if  the  negro  is  to  constitute  the  mass  of  indus- 
trial operatives  of  the  South,  it  is  imperative  that  for  the 
common  good  there  should  be  sympathetic  cooperation  with 
the  white  workers  engaged  in  similar  forms  of  industries. 

4.  That  every  effort  should  be  exerted  on  the  part  of 
the  South  to  make  these  laborers,  black  and  white,  more  re- 
liable, more  skillful,  and  more  efficient. 

5.  That  the  laborer  can  be  kept  efficient  and  skillful  only 
as  his  environment  is  wholesome  and  strengthening,  and 
not  weakening  and  demoralizing. 

6.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  patriotic  Southerner  to 
use  every  possible  means  for  practical,  sympathetic  train- 
ing of  these  workers  and  their  children  through  a  thorough, 
well-regulated  school  system. 

It  is  frequently  asserted  by  careless  and  thoughtless 
speakers  and  writers  that  all  negroes  are  lazy,  shiftless, 
and  inefficient ;  but  the  people  who  say  this  are  not  only  out 
of  accord  with  the  facts  of  the  case,  but  they  do  not  believe, 
often,  what  they  themselves  are  saying.  What  they  mean 
to  say  is  that  some  negroes  in  every  community  are  lazy, 
shiftless,  and  inefficient;  but  in  practically  every  district 

11 


162  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

where  negroes  are  employed,  whether  as  farm  laborers  or 
as  mechanical  laborers,  the  verdict  is  that  the  large  ma- 
jority of  negro  workers  are  reliable,  many  of  them  skillful 
and  very  efficient,  and  not  a  few  almost  indispensable. 
There  are  very  few  places  in  the  South  where  the  employer 
would  be  willing  to  dispense  with  the  service  of  his  negro 
employees.  Truly,  the  South  has  made  marvelous  strides 
in  industries  within  the  past  forty  years,  but  this  would 
have  been  well-nigh  impossible  without  its  docile,  cheerful, 
and  generally  willing  negro  i)opulation.  Notwithstanding 
the  much  discouraging  talk  and  the  more  discouraging,  not 
to  say  unfair  and  unjust,  legislation,  there  cannot  be  found, 
even  where  the  ruling  and  the  laboring  class  are  both  of 
the  same  race,  as  much  real,  helpful  sympathy  and  coopera- 
tion as  exist  at  the  present  time  between  the  negro  and  the 
Southern  white  man.  The  relationship  is  one  that  is  dif- 
ficult to  define,  yet  it  is  no  less  real.  There  are  some  indi- 
vidual white  men  who  like  individual  negroes.  Though  they 
may  think  they  hate  the  race,  the  same  individual  white 
men  will  do  any  reasonable  thing  to  help  individual  negroes. 
Yet  they  may  say  any  unreasonable  thing  against  the  ne- 
gro race.  There  are  negroes  who  are  equally  as  inconsist- 
ent in  their  feelings  and  expressions  regarding  the  white 
race. 

The  w^hite  South,  for  its  own  self-interest,  if  for  no 
other,  should  strive  to  make  the  individual  relationship 
which  exists  between  the  races  a  more  general  relationship, 
and  make  this  large  mass  of  negro  workers  happy  and  con- 
tented; it  should  encourage  them  to  live  on  the  farm  and 
to  buy  up  the  waste  and  undeveloped  lands  of  the  South, 
and  offer  every  possible  inducement  for  the  negro  to  remain 
in  the  South  and  on  the  land  where  he  can  rear  his  children 
amid  physical  and  moral  surroundings  conducive  to  his 
highest  development  and  greatest  usefulness  to  himself  and 
to  the  State. 

I  think  the  two  races  in  the  South  truly  deserve  to  be 
congratulated — ^the  negro,  because,  notwithstanding  all  of 
the  laws  and  all  of  the  discussions  regarding  the  various 
forms  of  circumscription  and  segregation,  he  has  not  be- 


INTER-RACIAL  INTERESTS  IN  INDUSTRY  163 

come  embittered  and  has  not  grown  to  hate  the  white  race ; 
and  the  white  people,  because,  in  view  of  all  that  has  been 
said  and  done,  have  not  lost  all  confidence  in  and  respect 
for  and  desire  to  help  the  negro.  And  this  brings  us  to 
the  question  of  segregation,  about  which  I  wish  to  state, 
as  clearly  and  as  definitely  as  possible,  how  the  negro  feels. 
Few  white  people  know  the  negro's  real  feelings  on  the 
question,  "What  is  in  the  back  of  our  heads?"  The  negro 
rarely  ever  discusses  this  question  frankly,  for  the  reason 
that  he  does  not  think  that  because  he  is  black  he  is  there- 
fore cursed,  and  that  therefore  the  Creator  has  limited  his 
possibilities  so  that  he  is  unfit  for  association  with  other 
human  beings.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  99  per  cent,  I  should 
say,  of  the  negro  race,  if  they  should  tell  what  they  really 
feel,  would  say  that  they  have  no  desire  to  be  with  white 
people  because  they  are  white,  that  so  far  as  unforced  seg- 
regation and  separation  are  concerned  he  is  entirely  in  ac- 
cord with  it,  not  because  of  unfitness,  but  because  of  racial 
compatibility.  This  one  can  observe  in  every  Southern  com- 
munity and  in  most  Northern  communities  where  there  are 
any  considerable  number  of  negroes.  In  Southern  com- 
munities long  before  segregation  was  ever  spoken  of  there 
were  negro  sections  in  almost  all  towns,  where  the  negroes 
lived  happily  and  there  was  practically  no  trouble  nor  feel- 
ing of  unpleasantness  because  of  it.  The  only  persons  who 
deigned  to  disregard  the  unwritten  law  were  certain 
white  men  who  opened  grocery  stores,  dry  goods  stores,  and 
barrooms  which  very  frequently  carried  with  them  the 
lowest  and  most  subtle  sort  of  vices  and  degradation  which 
would  not  be  tolerated  in  white  residential  sections.  What 
is  true  in  urban  communities  is  very  much  the  same  in 
rural  communities.  I  know  many  counties  in  Virginia  and 
in  other  States  also  where  one  could  go  for  miles  on  land 
owned  by  colored  people  and  this  without  any  law  forcing 
them  to  thus  separate.  The  negro  enjoys  the  companion- 
ship of  his  race  and  never  loses  a  chance  to  get  with  them, 
everything  else  being  equal.  The  negro,  like  every  other  hu- 
man being,  enjoys  being  with  his  friends,  whether  they  be 
black  or  white.    But  because  a  few  negroes  here  and  there 


164  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

in  cities  and  in  the  country  have  bought  property  alongside 
of  white  people;  because  the  negro  traveling  on  the  rail- 
road wishes  to  ride  in  the  Pullman  car ;  because  at  the  rail- 
road station  he  applies  at  the  only  restaurant  for  a  meal; 
because  a  few  negroes  here  and  there  go  to  Northern  white 
universities,  and  because  he  protests  against  the  "jim  crow" 
car,  which  almost  invariably  means  inferior  accommoda- 
tions, and  the  separation  on  street  cars,  the  feeling  in  the 
minds  of  the  average  white  person,  I  suppose,  is  that  the 
negro  wants  to  be  white  and  he  wants  to  be  with  white  peo- 
ple because  they  are  white.  There  is  absolutely  no  founda- 
tion in  fact  for  this  feeling. 

The  negro  has  long  since  learned  that  property  along- 
side of  white  people  in  cities  and  in  towns  is  more  valuable, 
that  his  wife  and  children  have  more  protection,  that  the 
streets  are  better  and  cleaner,  that  he  gets  better  fire  pro- 
tection, greater  police  protection,  and  for  such  a  section 
there  are  more  adequate  sanitary  arrangements.  The  ne- 
gro farmer  has  discovered  that  if  his  land  adjoins  a  white 
man's  land  the  county  roads  are  better  cared  for.  The  roads 
in  the  negro  sections,  especially  where  the  county  roads  are 
infrequently  used  by  white  people,  as  is  often  the  case,  are 
generally  neglected  and  it  is  often  difficult  to  get  the  road- 
master  to  pay  any  attention  to  that  section  of  the  public 
highway.  In  many  cases  it  is  never  touched.  The  fence 
and  stock  laws  will  be  much  more  rigidly  enforced  by  county 
officials  and  more  carefully  observed  by  both  black  and 
white  where  white  people's  property  is  concerned. 

The  truth  is,  the  white  people  are  the  ruling,  controlling, 
dominating,  directing  element  of  this  country,  and  they 
have  the  best  of  everything — ^best  parts  of  the  cities,  best 
hotels  and  restaurants,  best  cars,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  best 
schools,  colleges,  and  universities.  When  a  negro  shows 
any  inclination  to  be  with  white  people  it  is  not  because  he 
wants  to  be  with  white  people  as  such,  but  because  he  wants 
to  get  the  best  as  to  land,  position,  education,  comforts,  con- 
veniences, and  protection. 

It  is  self-evident  that  the  negro  has  practically  no  share 
in  the  making  of  or  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  when  he 


INTER-RACIAL  INTERESTS  IN  INDUSTRY  165 

is  segregated  he  knows  that  underneath  it  is  the  idea  that 
he  is  inferior  and  unfit  for  association  with  decent  people 
of  every  other  race.  He  knows  that  in  his  section  of  the 
city  the  streets  are  not  paved;  that  criminals  of  his  own 
race,  and  often  of  other  races,  are  allowed  to  run  at  large 
and  prey  on  the  ignorant  and  innocent;  that  in  his  section 
the  health  boards  are  not  as  particular  regarding  sanitary 
surroundings;  that  street  sweepers,  who  are  often  white, 
give  little  or  no  attention  to  sections  where  negroes  live; 
that  negro  sections,  because  they  are  negro  sections,  are 
almost  invariably  neglected  by  city  as  well  as  county  of- 
ficials. 

Separation,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  observe,  has 
never  meant  equal  treatment  or  equal  accommodations  on 
railroads  or  steamboats,  in  restaurants  or  on  street  cars, 
or  anywhere  else.  I  think  sometimes  an  effort  has  been 
made  to  make  it  equal ;  but  those  who  have  the  supervision 
of  it,  because  of  lack  of  interest  or  lack  of  sympathy,  or 
perhaps  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  necessity  of  careful 
supervision,  have  allowed  the  accommodations  to  degenerate 
into  inferior  and  in  most  cases  into  places  absolutely  unfit 
for  human  beings  of  any  race.  In  many  cases  these  places 
are  as  menacing  to  the  health  and  lives  of  the  white  race 
as  they  are  demoralizing  and  degrading  as  well  as  menac- 
ing to  the  health  and  lives  of  the  colored  people. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  Southern  conscience  ought  to  be 
aroused  to  the  point  where  the  white  South  will  demand 
absolutely  equal  accommodations  for  both  races  in  all  places 
where  there  is  local  segregation.  In  many  places  if  they 
had  negro  constables,  negro  magistrates,  negro  policemen 
in  negro  sections,  there  would  be  far  less  criminality  on  the 
part  of  negroes,  because  these  negro  officials  would  ferret 
it  out  and  locate  the  vicious  criminal  of  his  race,  and  would 
nine  times  out  of  ten  see  that  he  was  brought  to  justice. 
Negro  street  cleaners  would  be  more  zealous  in  their  duties. 
I  believe  that  the  criminality  of  the  South  as  far  as  the 
negro  is  concerned  would  be  reduced  50  per  cent  if  the 
authorities  would  call  into  service  colored  men  as  constables 
and  policemen,  and  they  would  get  cooperation  which  they 
now  little  dream  of. 


166  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

No  laborer,  either  black  or  white,  can  give  skillful, 
efRcient,  conscientious  service  when  he  is  surrounded  day 
and  night  by  all  that  tends  to  lower  his  health,  to  distort 
his  mind,  to  weaken  his  morals,  to  embitter  his  spirit,  to 
shake  his  faith  in  his  fellow  men.  The  South's  growth  can 
come  only  when  its  laboring  class  is  well  housed,  well  fed, 
and  surrounded  by  all  that  tends  to  make  it  strong  mentally, 
morally,  and  physically.  Under  this  system  of  segregation 
which  is  at  present  being  agitated  and  practiced  in  many 
quarters  it  is  impossible  for  the  negro  to  grow  normally  in 
either  his  physical,  mental,  or  moral  life.  To  that  extent 
he  is  inefficient  and  unsatisfactory  as  a  laborer,  and  I  much 
fear  will  grow  more  so. 

The  next  largest  group  of  negro  industrial  workers,  ac- 
cording to  the  Census  of  1910,  are  the  1,324,150  negroes 
who  are  engaged  in  domestic  and  personal  service.  These 
come  in  little  personal  contact,  and  have  almost  nothing 
in  common,  so  far  as  actual  occupation  is  concerned,  with 
a  similar  though  very  much  smaller  group  of  white  people. 
Nevertheless,  because  of  the  very  intimate  relationship 
which  they  sustain  toward  the  dominant  and  lawmaking 
element,  they  are  in  many  ways  a  most  important  factor 
in  inter-racial  problems.  These  domestic  and  personal 
service  workers  have  been  for  more  than  a  generation  very 
largely  the  "ministers  extraordinary  and  plenipotentiaries 
of  the  negro  race  at  the  court  of  Southern  white  public  opin- 
ion." Their  indifference,  their  laziness,  their  shiftlessness, 
their  carelessness,  their  inefficiency,  their  immorality  and 
criminality  have  played  no  inconsiderable  part  in  shaping 
the  mental  attitude  of  most  Southern  white  i)eople  toward 
the  negro.  Their  interpretation  of  the  sermons,  lectures, 
lawyers'  briefs,  physicians'  prescriptions,  the  conduct,  char- 
acter, feelings,  sentiments,  and  longings  of  all  the  negroes 
in  the  South,  educated  and  otherwise,  has  been  the  infal- 
lible foundation  upon  which  the  reputation  of  the  whole 
negro  race  to  a  very  large  extent  has  been  based.  All  of 
this  class  are  not  inefficient,  shiftless,  or  criminals ;  but  the 
domestic  class  and  the  personal  service  element  in  any  race, 
imi)ortant  as  they  are,  and  important  as  it  is  for  this  ele- 


INTER-RACIAL  INTERESTS  IN  INDUSTRY  167 

ment  in  my  race  to  be  efficient  and  satisfactory  and  to  hold 
their  jobs,  are  not,  however,  the  best  representatives  of  a 
race  of  people,  and  they  are  apt  to  misinterpret  and  misrep- 
resent the  intelligent,  well-meaning,  property-owning,  and 
progressive  class.  It  is,  therefore,  unfair  to  the  white  race 
that  it  should  shape  its  opinion  of  the  entire  negro  race  by 
the  negro  cook  or  butler  who  may  not  be  satisfactory.  It  is 
even  more  unfair  to  the  negro  that  the  decision  as  to  his 
morality,  his  intelligence,  his  ability,  and  his  industrial  ef- 
ficiency should  be  determined  merely  by  this  element. 

A  great  difficulty  that  faces  the  negro  girls  who  are  en- 
gaged in  domestic  service  is  the  lack  of  attention  and  care 
on  the  part  of  her  employers.  It  has  had  more  to  do  with 
the  moral  degradation  of  negro  women  than  any  other  single 
phase  of  Southern  life.  Little  or  no  interest  has  been  taken 
in  these  girls  so  long  as  they  attended  to  their  duties  while 
on  duty — where  they  went,  with  whom  they  associated,  the 
life  they  lived,  the  environments  in  which  they  have  spent 
their  off  hours,  whether  morally  or  physically  fitting,  have 
had  little  or  no  consideration.  This  has  been  perhaps 
natural,  but  it  is  certainly  unfair  not  only  to  the  negro 
domestic  servant,  but  to  the  white  employer  of  the  negro 
domestic  servant;  and  what  is  more,  it  has  made  many  a 
negro  woman  ashamed  of  her  job.  Many  well-meaning 
white  people  take  it  for  granted  that  the  negro  will  be  lazy, 
dishonest,  and  immoral ;  and  that  very  attitude,  benevolent 
as  it  is,  perhaps,  is  in  itself  most  unfortunate  and  danger- 
ous. It  is  most  unfortunate  for  the  negro  that  the  white 
race  should  set  a  lower  standard  either  industrially,  morally, 
or  intellectually  for  it,  and  too  easily  offer  a  sort  of  half 
apology  for  its  weakness  and  failures  and  inefficiencies. 

And  this  leads  me  to  emphasize  the  very  great  neces- 
sity of  education  for  the  negro.  There  have  been  much 
criticism  and  some  fun  and  ridicule  at  the  expense  of  the 
educated  negroes  by  people  perhaps  well-meaning,  but  after 
all  that  is  said  and  done,  the  most  successful  and  the  most 
reliable  and  the  most  influential  element  in  my  race,  as  in 
every  race,  are  the  educated  negroes — ^the  men  and  women 
who  have  done  most  to  cement  cordial,  sympathetic,  and 


168  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

helpful  relations  between  the  races,  who  have  had  the  great- 
est influence  upon  the  reckless,  radical  element  of  the  negro 
for  caution  and  conservatism — ^the  element  that  have  been 
most  patient  and  most  persistent  in  their  efforts  to  fit  the 
negro  for  freedom  and  citizenship  in  its  broadest  and  most 
perfect  sense  by  practical  Christian  education  and  sane 
wholesome  advice.  Therefore,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  best 
means  of  cementing  a  more  cordial,  sympathetic,  helpful 
relationship  between  the  two  races  is  a  thorough,  sys- 
tematic, sympathetic  training  and  a  practical  education  for 
both  races,  which  means  loyalty  and  efficiency,  and  espe- 
cially so  for  the  most  backward  of  the  two  races — the  negro. 
Our  struggle,  then,  to  bring  all  the  laborers  of  the  South 
to  the  point  where  they  can  make  of  this  Southland,  where 
cotton  still  remains  the  economic  king,  what  it  should 
eventually  become  must  first  be  to  feed,  clothe,  and  house 
them  properly.  For  this  they  must  be  trained  intellectually, 
morally,  and  spiritually;  and  for  this  training  the  white 
people,  the  directing  class,  must  see  that  all  labor,  black  as 
well  as  white,  has  a  full  and  complete  opportunity  to  get 
the  very  best,  broadest,  deepest,  and  highest  that  the  Crea- 
tor has  given  to  all  mankind. 

I  honestly  plead  for  the  continued  cooperation  and  back- 
ing of  the  South  in  the  efforts  and  achievements  of  such 
secondary  and  higher  educational  institutions  as  Hampton, 
Tuskegee,  Howard,  Atlanta,  Fisk,  and  Virginia  Union 
University  with  a  dozen  other  worthy  institutions,  not  only 
for  the  training  they  give  the  negro,  but  for  what  this  train- 
ing has  meant  to  the  South  and  the  nation.  For  it  is  only 
by  broadening  his  horizon,  enlargii^  his  vision,  increas- 
ing his  ambition,  deepening  his  pride  in  himself  and  in  his 
race,  and  thereby  increasing  hie  respect  for  himself  and 
other  selves,  that  the  negro  will  be  made  truly  efficient — a 
permanent  benefit  to  himself,  to  his  race,  and  to  his  coun- 
try. And  this  should  be  the  Christian  duty  and  patriotic 
obligation  of  every  true  American  citizen,  black  and  white 
alike. 


THE  INTER-RACIAL  INTEREST  OF  HEALTH  169 

THE  INTER-RACIAL  INTEREST  OF  HEALTH 

C.  V.  ROMAN,   M.A.,   M.D.,   NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

This  paper  assumes  two  things  to  be  true  and  seeks  to 
prove  a  third  thing  to  be  wise.    It  is  true — 

1.  That  the  negroes  and  whites  of  the  South  are  geo- 
graphically one  people,  but  ethnically  two  races. 

2.  That  they  are  going  to  remain  so. 

It  is  wise  that  they  respect  each  other  and  cooperate  for 
the  common  good,  marching  in  separate  regiments,  but  solid 
phalanx,  to  the  music  of  civilization. 

A  bright  and  inquiring  colored  lad  of  eight  summers  had 
a  granduncle  who,  notwithstanding  his  innocence  of  "book 
larnin',"  was  in  great  repute  for  wisdom.  That  this  dis- 
tinction was  not  undeserved,  the  following  conversation  will 
show: 

"Uncle,  why  do  de  sun  give  mo  light  dan  de  moon?" 

"Law,  chile,  you  ought  not  to  ax  questions  lessen  you 
knows  what  you  is  talkin'  about.  How  do  you  know  dat  de 
sun  do  give  mo  light  dan  de  moon  ?  You  must  'member  dat 
de  sun  only  has  to  tackle  de  day.  You  don't  know  what  she 
could  do  wid  de  night." 

It  might  be  well  to  begin  this  subject  by  inquiring  if  we 
really  have  anything  to  talk  about.  Are  there  any  health 
problems  that  are  of  interest  to  both  races?  Is  it  of  any 
interest  to  a  white  man  hov/,  when,  or  of  what  a  negro 
dies  ?  What  does  it  matter  to  a  negro  how  many  white  folks 
die?  or  when?  or  where?  or  how? 

We  have  it  from  authority  that  never  fails  to  "recom- 
mend itself  most  highly"  that  this  is  a  white  man's  country, 
and  the  white  man  is  going  to  rule  it. 

From  more  ancient,  if  less  partisan,  authority  we  learn 
that  the  devil  "is  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air."  (Eph. 
ii.  2.)  The  white  man  rules  the  ground  and  the  devil  rules 
the  air.  Thus  is  the  American  negro  classed  with  the  lone 
Nazarene,  "who  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head." 


170  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

Under  such  circumstances,  what  must  the  negro  do? 
Trust  God  and  do  right — 

"There  is  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends; 
Rough-hew  them  how  we  may." 

"He  that  planted  the  ear,  shall  he  not  hear?  he  that 
formed  the  eye,  shall  he  not  see?  He  that  chastiseth  the 
heathen,  shall  not  he  correct?  he  that  teacheth  man  knowl- 
edge, shall  not  he  know?"     (Ps.  xciv.  9,  10.) 

Over  the  registration  area  of  this  country  the  death  rate 
among  negroes  is  practically  twice  that  among  the  whites. 
Why?    Who  cares? 

Is  it  fair  for  the  difficulties  of  making  a  living  to  in- 
crease with  the  pigment  of  the  skin  ?  In  the  United  States 
a  negro  must  work  harder  than  a  white  man  to  live.  The 
United  States  Census  shows  that  the  proportionate  number 
of  children  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  sixteen  years  in 
gainful  occupations  is  twice  as  great  among  colored  as 
among  white;  and  among  female  children  it  is  four  times 
as  great. 

There  are  proportionately  three  times  as  many  colored 
women  as  white  in  gainful  occupations.  This  shows  an 
intensification  of  the  struggle  for  existence.  Does  this  tend 
to  increase  the  mortality  rate?    Who  cares? 

With  the  white  man  ruling  the  ground  and  the  devil 
ruling  the  air,  the  negro  must  indeed  walk  circumspyectly, 
if  he  is  to  preserve  his  life,  much  less  his  health. 

But  Nature  is  the  common  mother  of  us  all,  and  knows 
neither  breed  nor  creed.  Her  rewards  and  punishments 
are  inexorably  bestowed  according  as  we  heed  or  hinder 
her  processes.  In  her  demand  for  obedience  she  conceded 
man  "no  preeminence  above  a  beast."  Physical  life  is  a 
glorious  privilege  that  man  shares  in  common  with  the 
humblest  flower  that  blooms  and  the  meanest  worm  that 
crawls.  The  Lord  is  impartial  in  his  goodness,  and  Satan 
is  equally  impartial  in  his  meanness. 

Health  is  the  result  of  harmony  with  Nature,  and  lon- 
gevity is  Wisdom's  reward  to  her  devotees.    Here,  then,  is 


THE  INTER-RACIAL  INTEREST  OF  HEALTH  171 

a  solid  platform  for  mutual  cooperation  without  ethnic  an- 
tagonism. 

The  health  of  the  Southland  can  be  improved  perma- 
nently only  by  considering  all  the  factors  involved.  All  of 
the  population  healthy  and  free  is  a  much  safer  condition 
than  part  of  the  population  diseased  and  isolated.  There  is 
a  solidarity  of  interest  that  can  be  neither  evaded  nor  abro- 
gated. Prejudice  may  render  her  Dred  Scott  decisions,  but 
fate  repeals  them  at  Gettysburg. 

I  am  firmly  convinced  that  moral  teaching  is  one  of  the 
most  effective  means  of  preserving  health.  A  clear  title  to 
heaven  will  undoubtedly  strengthen  one's  hold  on  earth. 
Knowledge  does  not  always  improve  morals,  but  morals 
always  tend  to  improve  health;  and  health  leads  to  lon- 
gevity. I  unhesitatingly  place  the  Church  among  the 
agencies  to  maintain  public  health.  Improved  morals,  and 
not  earlier  and  more  extended  sex  knowledge,  is  the  true 
remedy  for  the  fearful  havoc  of  venereal  disease.  It  may 
sound  old-fashioned,  but  it  is  true  that  an  upright,  intelli- 
gent ministry  contributes  to  the  physical  health  of  the 
nation. 

We  send  missionaries  to  carry  light  to  distant  lands, 
but  deny  simple  justice  to  the  men  and  women  at  our  doors. 
Unless  we  change  our  tactics,  "it  may  some  day  be  the  epi- 
taph of  our  modem  civilization  that  we  used  civilized  meth- 
ods in  dealing  with  savages  and  savage  methods  in  deal- 
ing with  the  civilized."  I  say  we  because  the  equities  are 
by  no  means  all  on  one  side.  It  is  as  hard  for  a  negro  to  be 
just  to  a  white  man  as  it  is  for  a.  white  man  to  be  just  to  a 
negro. 

I  am  not  ashamed  of  my  breed,  and  am  grateful  for  my 
nurture.  I  am  an  American,  born  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
and  am  proud  of  my  country  and  of  my  birthday.  More- 
over, I  believe  in  myself,  in  my  people,  in  my  country,  and 
in  my  God. 

Notwithstanding  the  burdens  and  hardships  of  my  life, 
I  have  "dwelt  in  cities  I  did  not  build,  and  eaten  of  vine- 
yards I  did  not  plant."  My  breed  represents  a  civilization 
of  but  a  few  hundred  years,  yet  my  nurture  represents  the 


172  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

culture  of  the  ages.  I  feel  myself  the  legitimate  heritor  of 
all  the  past  glories  of  mankind.  The  ethics  of  Socrates,  the 
philosophy  of  Goethe,  and  the  eloquence  of  Shakespeare  are 
but  portions  of  my  patrimony.  The  good  and  wise  of  every 
age  and  every  clime  are  my  ancestry.  My  inheritance  is 
common  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men.  The  moral  and 
intellectual  achievements  of  mankind  are  the  just  dower  of 
every  child  that  is  born. 

But  the  laws  of  inheritance  are  so  arranged  by  nature 
that  a  man's  patrimony  is  only  what  he  can  utilize.  He 
may  become  a  son  of  perdition  or  a  son  of  light:  "For  as 
many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of 
Gk)d."  (Rom.  viii.  14.)  A  man  may  have  a  million  dollars 
in  property  and  only  a  dime's  worth  of  brains.  Poverty 
does  not  always  mean  the  absence  of  money.  Money  with- 
out brains  is  a  danger  to  the  individual,  and  privilege  with- 
out patriotism  is  a  danger  to  the  State;  but  knowledge 
without  sympathy  is  a  danger  to  both.  All  the  people  work- 
ing for  the  welfare  of  all  the  people,  is  the  ideal  of  civili- 
zation. 

I  desire  the  permanent  banishment  of  all  preventable 
diseases  from  all  sections  of  all  our  communities.  I  am  as 
anxious  to  em^ancipate  the  white  man  from  the  hookworm 
as  I  am  to  free  the  negro  from  tuberculosis. 

"The  strongest  bond  of  human  sympathy,  outside  of 
the  family  relation,  should  be  one  uniting  all  working  peo- 
ple, of  all  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kindreds."  (Abraham 
Lincoln.)  The  seed  thought  of  civilization  is  cooperation — 
a  subordination  of  individual  interest  to  a  common  end. 

In  health  matters  this  means  contact  without  contagion. 
Civilization  connotes  fair  play,  equality  of  opportunity. 

Unfair  distribution  of  benefits  is  the  canker  that  has 
destroyed  the  civilizations  of  the  past.  Unwillingness  to 
let  the  other  fellow  have  a  show,  injustice,  immorality,  and 
"man's  inhumanity  to  man"  are  but  different  names  for 
the  hydra-headed  monster  that  has  ever  stood  in  the  path- 
way of  human  progress  and  is  now  seeking  to  bar  out  our 
glorious  Southland  from  the  most  splendid  career  in  the 
history  of  nations. 


THE  INTER-RACIAL  INTEREST  OF  HEALTH  173 

Health  matters  are  equally  important  to  all  classes  of 
people,  regardless  of  race  or  position.  Disease  forced  upon 
one  class  or  section  will  react  upon  the  whole.  Injustice 
and  unhappiness  are  inseparable  companions.  As  long  as 
a  people  are  unfair  they  will  be  diseased.  Quality  Hill  can- 
not long  remain  well  when  Poverty  Lane  is  sick.  Whether 
rich  or  poor,  black  or  white,  we  are  equally  liable  to  disease 
and  should  be  equally  interested  in  matters  of  health.  Sani- 
tation, hygiene,  the  death  rate,  and  good  morals  are  impor- 
tant to  all. 

SANITATION 

Self-interest,  as  well  as  humanity,  says  that  you  should 
make  yourself  safe  by  killing  disease  instead  of  killing  men. 
Sewage  is  a  necessity  of  city  life.  The  more  congested 
the  population,  the  greater  the  necessity  for  proper  sewage. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  water  supply.  The  more  people 
there  are  using  a  supply  of  water,  the  greater  the  necessity 
of  keeping  it  clean,  and  the  greater  the  difficulty  in  so  doing. 
The  same  is  true  of  lighting.  The  necessity  of  keeping 
streets  lighted  increases  with  the  number  of  people  using 
them.  Yet  our  city  authorities  usually  proceed  on  the  op- 
posite principle.  For  the  poorer  and  more  congested  the 
district,  the  less  it  gets  of  these  prime  necessities  of  urban 
health. 

Do  men  live  because  they  are  white  and  die  because  they 
are  black  ?  The  works  of  the  Omnipotent  manifest  the  spirit 
of  their  maker.  "God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,"  says 
Religion.  "Nature  is  impartial  as  well  as  inexorable,"  says 
Science.  Disease  germs  seem  tolerably  free  from  caste  dis- 
tinction and  race  prejudice. 

THE  REMEDY  IS  SANITATION,  NOT  SEGREGATION 

I  knew  nothing  about  the  people  that  rented  the  house 
next  door  to  me  when  the  widowed  owner  married  and 
moved  away.  They  were  quiet  people  that  minded  their 
own  business  and  I  minded  mine.  We  moved  in  different 
spheres  that  scarcely  touched.  I  came  home  from  Sunday 
school  one  beautiful  winter's  day  and  found  a  yellow  flag 
on  my  neighbor's  door.    I  was  interested.    When  I  found 


174  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

that  they  had  been  washing  for  my  wife  and  that  the  family 
wash  was  then  over  there,  I  had  a  new  vision  of  the  broth- 
erhood of  man,  the  solidarity  of  human  interests.  Christian 
duty,  etc.  I  immediately  felt  it  my  duty  to  see  that  the 
health  officers  did  their  duty.  Result?  There  was  mo 
spread  of  the  disease  which  a  transient  boarder  had  brought 
into  the  neighborhood. 

HYGIENE 

My  own  health  depends  upon  my  neighbor's  cleanliness 
and  I  am  made  happier  by  freeing  my  neighbor  from  dis- 
ease. Individual  cleanliness,  however  assiduously  practiced, 
is  only  effectual  when  those  with  whom  we  come  directly 
or  indirectly  in  contact  practice  it  also.  Thus  self-interest 
teaches  altruism,  and  every  man  is  made  his  "brother's 
keeper." 

Americans  lack  discrimination  in  what  the  French  call 
nuance.  A  French  actress  won  great  applause  by  appear- 
ing perfectly  nude  in  the  play,  but  was  hissed  when  she  re- 
sponded to  a  curtain  call  in  the  same  attire.  The  first  was 
art;  the  second  was  vulgarity.  But  we  can't  distinguish 
between  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  personal  welfare  of 
our  neighbors  and  having  them  as  social  guests.  We  con- 
fuse the  right  of  life  with  the  privilege  of  place. 

DEATH  RATE 

The  premature  death  of  trained  adults  is  economic  dis- 
aster. The  welfare  of  society  demands  that  an  educated 
and  trained  person  shall  live  long  enough  to  pay  back  with 
interest  the  expense  of  his  nurture. 

Physical  vigor  is  an  economic  asset,  and  length  of  days 
is  a  positive  blessing.  Sickness  is  a  burden  to  a  community, 
and  a  high  death  rate  is  a  barrier  to  progress.  A  high  birth 
rate  is  not  full  compensation.  There  must  be  a  period  of 
fruitfulness  between  maturity  and  decay.  What  headway 
could  a  farmer  make  breaking  new  horses  every  day  ? 

My  race  is  suffering  intensely  just  now  from  this  eco- 
nomic hari-kari,  and  so  is  the  nation  at  large.  In  this  coun- 
try the  general  death  rate  of  middle  life  is  rising. 


THE  INTER-RACIAL  INTEREST  OF  HEALTH  175 

GOOD  MORALS 

'  Good  morals  are  better  peace  officers  than  policemen, 
and  righteous  men  are  worth  more  to  a  community  than 
temperance  laws.  Physical  health  is  man's  greatest  earthly 
blessing,  and  fair  play  is  his  surest  means  of  obtaining  it. 

"Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets, 
And  simple  faith  than  Norman  blood." 

These  propositions  are  truisms.  Why,  then,  do  we  not 
apply  them  for  the  betterment  of  our  country?  Let  us  face 
the  facts. 

The  curse  of  the  age  is  the  apotheosis  of  the  dollar.  The 
most  insidious,  powerful,  and  persistent  foe  to  improve- 
ment is  money.  Men  sell  alcoholic  liquors  because  it  pays. 
Prostitution  would  be  as  negligible  a  quantity  in  city  as  in 
rural  life  were  it  not  for  the  financial  factor.  The  red  light 
district  is  built  upon  greed  for  gold,  not  the  worship  of 
Venus.  It  is  as  true  in  America  to-day  as  it  was  in  the 
Roman  Empire  two  thousand  years  ago.  "They  that  will 
be  rich  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into  many 
foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction 
and  perdition.  For  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil, 
which  while  some  coveted  after,  they  have  erred  from  the 
faith,  and  pierced  themselves  through  with  many  sorrows." 
(1  Tim.  vi.  9,  10.) 

The  fight  against  alcohol  is  not  so  much  a  fight  against 
appetite  as  against  dollars.  Venality,  not  Venus,  is  the 
bulwark  of  prostitution.  The  red  light  district  is  a  monu- 
ment to  the  triumph  of  money  over  morals.  Money  pro- 
duces the  turmoil  in  the  race  question.  It  pays.  It  is  a 
source  of  revenue.  Prejudice  produces  profit.  It  enables 
petty  officials  and  certain  types  of  money  lenders,  credit 
merchants,  etc.,  to  mulct  the  negro  with  impunity.  If  the 
negro  resists,  prejudice  enables  them  to  smother  investi- 
gation by  mob  excitement.  It  is  an  open  sesame  to  no- 
toriety and  public  office;  as  the  United  States  Senate,  the 
American  stage,  and  the  history  of  the  hookworm  investiga- 
tion fully  illustrates. 


176  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

The  money  element  explains  the  most  glaring  incon- 
sistencies in  our  attitude  on  this  question  and  makes  the 
real  danger  in  the  racial  situation.  What  we  need,  espe- 
cially in  the  South,  is  a  maximum  of  racial  cooperation  and 
a  minimum  of  racial  commingling. 

Any  man,  white  or  black,  who  will  deny  this  proposi- 
tion either  does  not  understand  conditions  or  is  not  a  friend 
to  either  race.  Under  such  conditions,  why  should  negro 
doctors  be  shut  out  of  purely  negro  communities,  or  white 
women  be  made  to  nurse  negro  men  in  our  city  hospitals? 
Why  should  we  not  have  negro  guards  for  negro  prisoners  ? 
Why  should  not  negro  doctors  and  negro  nurses  have  charge 
of  the  negro  section  of  the  city  hospitals  of  the  South  ?  Why 
a  white  board  of  managers  for  a  school  for  incorrigible 
negro  girls?  Why  not  negro  sanitary  inspectors  in  negro 
neighborhoods?  Why  do  the  most  violent  advocates  of 
negro  inferiority  and  racial  separation  seek  only  to  block 
the  way  up,  leaving  the  downward  road  unguarded?  Why 
object  to  negro  college  officials  handling  for  negroes  the 
negro's  share  of  governmental  appropriations  for  agricul- 
tural purposes?  Why  do  not  the  American  people  accept 
Abraham  Lincoln's  solution  of  the  negro  problem?  "All  I 
ask  for  the  negro,"  said  Lincoln,  "is  that,  if  you  do  not  like 
him,  you  let  him  alone.  If  God  gave  him  but  little,  that  lit- 
tle let  him  enjoy."    Why? 

For  the  same  reason  that  railroad  companies  do  not 
carry  out  the  law  and  give  every  passenger  the  same  return 
for  his  money.  Somebody  is  coining  the  welfare  of  his 
country  into  gold.    It  pays.    We  have  made  a  god  of  money. 

When  all  things  are  for  barter,  destruction  is  imminent. 
To  arrest  ruin,  a  change  must  come.  Babylon  fell  because 
the  souls  of  men  could  be  bought  in  her  market  place. 

"In  Babylon,  mad  Babylon, 

What  get  you  for  your  pence? 
A  moiety  of  cinnamon, 
^  Of  flour  and  frankincense. 

But  let  the  shekels  in  your  ke^ 

Be  multiplied  by  ten, 
And  you  shall  purchase  slaves  and  sheep. 
Yea,  and  the  aouls  of  men." 

(See  Rev.  xviii.  10-13.) 


THE  INTER-RACIAL  INTEREST  OF  HEALTH  177 

There  are  some  things  that  must  not  be  bartered  if 
civilization  is  to  endure.  The  price  is  immaterial.  It  mat- 
ters not  whether  a  man  get  a  mess  of  pottage  or  a  king- 
dom for  his  honor,  the  condemnation  holds.  Men  shirk 
responsibility  by  doing  collectively  what  they  would  hesi- 
tate to  do  individually.  Yet  the  units  make  the  mass,  and 
division  of  guilt  is  not  destruction  of  guilt.  The  number 
of  defendants  does  not  change  the  character  of  a  crime, 
and  racial  misdeeds  are  as  sure  of  a  Nemesis  as  individual 
misconduct. 

The  great  white  race  cannot  escape  the  penalty  if  it  bar- 
ter its  honor  for  the  privilege  of  exploiting,  suppressing,  or 
even  destroying  the  negro.  In  health  matters  we  must  do 
what  is  right  rather  than  what  is  profitable.  Prejudice  must 
cease  to  bring  grist  to  the  mill  of  greed,  and  the  physical 
welfare  of  all  must  take  precedence  over  the  financial  profit 
of  the  few.  We  hear  a  great  deal  these  days  about  the  con- 
servation of  our  national  resources.  What  resource  of 
the  nation  is  of  more  value  than  the  health  of  its  citizens? 

In  the  jungles  of  tropical  Africa  there  is  an  insect,  an 
ant,  called  the  termite,  that  serves  a  useful  purpose  there. 
"They  are  insatiable  devourers  of  wood  and  of  similar  sub- 
stances, and  keep  the  jungles  cleared  of  much  fallen  timber 
and  vegetable  matter.    But  transferred  to  a  civilized  com- 
munity, with  their  appetites  brought  to  bear  upon  human 
habitations,  they  are  capable  of  unbelievable  damage — par- 
ticularly as  they  work  upon  the  interior  of  the  wood,  being 
careful  never  to  emerge  upon  the  surface.    Often  the  tim- 
bers of  a  house  may  be  eaten  through  in  a  single  night, 
beams  and  girders,  while  apparently  as  substantial  as  be- 
fore, remaining  but  a  shell  of  paper-like  thinness,  filled  with 
an  impalpable  powder.    Cases  are  on  record  where  the  ter- 
mite has  so  undermined  the  supports  of  a  house  that  a  din- 
ner party  given  by  the  unsuspecting  host  was  dropped  un- 
ceremoniously into  the  cellar  by  the  collapse  of  the  floor 
beams;  or  where  a  soldier,  slipping  on  the  stairs  and  seiz- 
ing an  apparently  substantial  newel  post  for  support,  had  it 
crumble  in  his  hands.    Tables  have  had  their  legs  so  hol- 
lowed out  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours  that  they  have  col- 

12 


178  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

lapsed  by  their  own  weight;  undermined  chairs  have 
dropped  their  occupants  solidly  to  the  floor." 

So  it  is  with  the  feelings  and  dispositions  of  men.  There 
are  certain  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  that  make  for  safety 
and  progress  when  men  are  isolated  and  barbarous,  but 
spell  destruction  and  ruin  when  in  the  light  of  civilization. 

Excessive  individualism  is  one  of  these  traits.  In  sav- 
age or  barbarous  man,  isolated  and  struggling  against  the 
forces  of  nature  and  the  ferocity  of  wild  beasts,  excessive 
individuality  is  a  virtue  and  justifies  the  extreme  selfish- 
ness that  makes  the  welfare  of  everything,  even  the  lives 
of  women  and  children,  subservient  to  the  interests  of  the 
individual  man.  But  civilization  rests  upon  the  confidence 
of  man  in  man  and  the  willingness  of  man  to  cooperate  with 
man — tentatively  and  limited  at  first,  beginning  with  close 
blood  kin,  extending  to  immediate  neighbors,  then  to  the 
tribe,  then  to  the  nation,  then  to  the  race,  and  finally  to  all 
mankind.  Civilization  must  eventually  become  world-wide  or 
extinct.  Justice  is  for  all  or  for  none.  Confidence  must  be 
mutual  or  cooperation  cannot  be  profitable. 

Savagery  rests  on  selfishness,  but  civilization  depends 
upon  altruism.  There  is  an  interdependence  in  health  mat- 
ters that  prejudice  cannot  escape  nor  power  annul.  Every 
patriotic  ear,  whether  white  or  black,  can  hear  the  voice 
of  civilization  asking,  "Where  is  thy  brother?" 


RELIGION  THE  COMMON  BASIS  OF  CO-OPERATION 

W.  D.  WEATHERFORD,  PH.D.,  NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

No  man  who  studies  the  facts  can  for  one  moment  doubt 
that  there  is  a  growing  cooperation  between  the  two  races 
in  the  South.  There  is  both  a  larger  interest  on  the  part 
of  the  Southern  white  men  and  a  larger  confidence  on  the 
part  of  the  Southern  negro.  And  the  two  elements  are 
absolutely  necessary  complements.     There  can  be  no  co- 


RELIGION  THE  COMMON  BASIS  OF  CO-OPERATION         179 

operation  without  genuine  trust  and  confidence  on  both 
sides;  and  he  who  breaks  down  this  trust — for  political 
reasons,  for  self-aggrandizement,  or  because  of  ignorance 
or  malice — is  the  enemy  of  black  and  white  alike. 

In  the  older  days,  with  however  much  of  evil  there  was, 
one  thing  softened  the  relationship  between  the  races.  In 
most  cases  master  and  slave  saw  much  of  each  other  and 
their  dealings  were  personal — not  absentee.  Biit  since 
those  days  the  growth  of  industry,  the  moving  of  landlords 
to  the  city,  and  numerous  other  causes  have  worked  toward 
the  dehumanizing  of  both  classes.  The  negro  does  not  deal 
directly  with  his  employer,  and  vice  versa.  Neither  knows 
the  other  personally,  and  through  purely  economic  laws 
•neither  becomes  really  interested  in  the  other.  But  there 
are  other  forces  at  work  which  are  bringing  the  two  races 
together  in  larger  and  larger  fellowship. 

There  are  at  least  three  forms  of  cooperation  which  at 
this  present  hour  show  the  spirit  of  Southern  white  men 
toward  this  problem — and  each  of  these  throw  light  on, 
and  lend  encouragement  to,  this  whole  subject. 

The  first  is  a  determined  effort  on  the  part  of  the  South- 
ern white  man  to  know  in  broadcast  terms  the  life  of  the 
Southern  negro.  This  is  no  morbid  curiosity,  neither  is  it 
a  passing  fad;  but  it  is  a  deep-seated  determination  that 
by  reading,  observation,  discussion,  and  actual  service  we 
shall  come  to  know  the  fundamental  aspirations  and  needs 
of  the  negro  race.  This,  of  course,  is  the  first  step  toward 
helpful  cooperation. 

I  am  well  aware  that  some  have  supposed  that  there  is 
less  interest  now  than  there  was  a  few  years  ago.  There 
are  fewer  magazine  articles  and  less  agitation.  Ambassa- 
dor Walter  Page,  who  was  formerly  editor  of  the  World's 
Work,  told  me  a  few  months  ago  that  there  was  far  less 
interest  in  the  North  and  East  at  present  than  formerly. 
He  said  the  East  was  surfeited  on  race  articles.  But  that 
is  certainly  not  true  in  the  South.  Miss  Helm's  book  on 
the  "Upward  Path,"  written  by  a  Southern  woman  and 
sold  almost  entirely  here  in  the  South,  passed  the  twenty- 
thousand  mark  within  eighteen  months  after  its  publica- 


180  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

tion.  That  is  a  marvelous  sale  for  any  book  dealing  with 
a  social  problem.  I  make  bold  to  assert  that  there  have 
been  more  volumes  on  the  negro  read  by  Southern  white 
people  in  the  last  five  years  than  were  read  in  all  the  fifty 
years  preceding.  There  is  a  genuine  eagerness  and  hunger 
for  sane  and  accurate  facts  on  these  lines. 

Recently  I  had  a  share  in  sending  out  two  thousand  vol- 
umes of  one  book  on  this  problem  to  an  equal  number  of 
individuals.  Although  these  books  went  into  the  hands  of 
some  of  the  busiest  people  in  this  section,  and  although  they 
have  only  been  in  the  hands  of  these  people  a  little  more 
than  two  months,  more  than  fifteen  hundred  have  written 
that  the  book  has  been  read  with  eagerness  and  interest. 
This  could  not  have  happened  fifteen  years  ago.  If  the 
books  had  been  sent,  many  of  them  would  not  have  been 
read ;  and  in  many  other  cases  the  readers  would  have  been 
unsympathetic  instead  of  genuinely  sympathetic,  as  most 
of  these  readers  were. 

The  fact  that  fifteen  thousand  college  students  have  read 
and  studied  a  book  on  this  question  in  the  last  three  years 
is  positive  proof  that  interest  in  the  proper  solution  of  our 
race  relations  has  not  waned.  The  fact  that  the  "Human 
Way,"  being  the  report  of  the  Race  Section  of  the  South- 
ern Sociological  Congress  of  1913,  has  been  read  and  quoted 
by  literally  scores  of  editors  all  over  the  South,  is  proof 
positive  that  there  is  a  deep  and  abiding  interest  in  finding 
the  latest  and  most  scientific  facts.  All  of  this  means  not 
only  that  we  have  a  deeper  interest  than  ever  before,  but 
that  our  interest  is  destined  to  grow  as  we  know  more  and 
more  of  the  facts.  It  might  well  be  said  here,  as  it  was  said 
by  Christ  on  an  entirely  different  connection:  "Ye  shall 
know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 

A  second  sign  of  growing  interest  is  the  determination 
on  the  part  of  the  best  element  in  the  South  to  have  a  share 
in  the  religious  and  social  uplift  of  the  negro  race.  This 
race  department  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  is  a 
testimony  to  this  deep  and  abiding  interest.  I  have  recently 
sent  letters  to  all  of  the  United  States  farm  demonstration 
agents  in  the  South  asking  them  if  they  were  helping  any 


RELIGION  THE  COMMON  BASIS  OF  CO-OPERATION         181 

negroes  to  become  better  farmers  through  scientific  train- 
ing. In  almost  every  case  they  replied  that  they  were  help- 
ing one,  two,  and  on  up  to  a  dozen  negro  farmers.  They 
indicated  deep  sympathy  and  interest,  and  said  that  these 
farmers  were  among  their  most  willing  and  capable  co- 
laborers.  One  man,  a  former  college  student  who  was  active 
in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  work  in  college, 
wrote  that  he  found  the  negroes  so  willing  and  so  apt  in 
taking  instruction  that  it  was  a  genuine  pleasure  to  co- 
operate with  them.  Nearly  all  of  these  men  reported  that 
negro  farmers  were  buying  land  and  improving  their  home 
conditions,  and  that  with  the  most  cordial  approval  of  the 
white  communities. 

Just  as  I  was  preparing  this  statement  for  this  confer- 
ence there  came  to  my  table  a  report  of  the  Associated 
Charities  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  accompanied  with  a  supple- 
mentary report  of  the  Colored  Federated  Charities.  This 
Colored  Federated  Charities  is  a  department  of,  and  inte- 
grally related  to,  the  Associated  Charities  of  this  city.  It 
is  very  significant  in  two  respects.  First,  that  the  white 
citizens  of  Memphis  are  in  a  systematic  and  thorough  fash- 
ion taking  care  of  the  needs  of  the  negro  people  of  the  city. 
Thirty-five  hundred  dollars  is  contributed  by  the  white 
organizations  and  fifteen  hundred  is  raised  by  the  colored 
organization.  The  second  significant  thing  is  that  this 
money  is  not  doled  out  by  the  white  people,  but  the  colored 
people  are  taken  in  as  copartners  in  the  scheme,  and  given 
joint  responsibility  in  the  administration.  They  are  not 
working  for  the  colored  people,  but  they  are  working  vnth 
the  colored  people.  This  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  signs 
of  our  time. 

I  am  aware  that  happenings  of  the  last  few  months  have 
seemed  to  indicate  that  the  South  has  not  definitely  settled 
its  mind  in  favor  of  training  its  negroes.  But  such  an  as- 
sumption is  a  mistake.  There  are  still  some  people  in  the 
South  who  can  be  worked  into  a  fury  over  the  indiscreet 
and  senseless  action  of  a  few  sentimentalists  who  either  do 
not  know  enough  or  do  not  care  enough  to  have  a  Chris- 
tian spirit  toward  the  deep  convictions  of  the  best  people 


182  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

of  this  section.  And  these  indiscretions  arouse  the  hot 
anger  of  some  of  our  people  who  have  little  self-control. 
But  neither  the  foolish  indiscretions  of  the  one  class  nor 
the  hot  impulsiveness  of  the  other  can  shake  the  solid  con- 
victions of  the  intelligent  element  in  the  South,  that  we 
must,  we  ought,  and  we  will  give  the  negro  people  a  fair 
chance  at  training.  This  was  long  ago  settled,  and  Mr. 
Blease  and  Mr.  Vardaman  and  all  their  tribes  had  just  as 
well  expect  to  stop  the  tides  of  the  ocean  by  putting  sand 
hills  before  the  waves  as  expect  to  stay  the  tide  of  progress 
in  negro  training,  to  which  the  best  people  of  the  South 
have  absolutely  set  themselves. 

During  the  last  six  months  I  have  had  letters  from  lit- 
erally scores  of  County  Superintendents  of  Education 
throughout  the  South.  In  almost  every  case  they  are  plan- 
ning big  things  for  the  future  uplift  of  the  negro  schools. 
They  are  holding  county  institutes  for  colored  teachers  with 
as  much  thoroughness  and  enthusiasm  as  they  are  holding 
institutes  for  white  teachers.  They  are  visiting  the  negro 
schools  as  they  have  never  been  visited  before.  They  are 
helping  to  provide  the  funds  for  industrial  supervising 
teachers,  they  are  giving  care  and  attention  to  the  proper 
construction  of  new  school  buildings.  In  every  way  they 
are  giving  the  negro  school  the  most  thorough  cooperation. 
I  was  at  Tuskegee  some  time  ago  when  the  Jeanes  county 
supervising  teachers  met  there.  They  were  all  colored 
teachers;  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which  those  teachers 
told  about  the  cooperation  of  their  respective  superintend- 
ents, each  one  claiming  that  her  superintendent  was  more 
helpful  and  more  interested  than  any  other,  was  one  of  the 
finest  commentaries  I  know  on  the  splendid  work  of  those 
white  men. 

The  way  in  which  many  of  our  choicest  Southern  men 
are  giving  themselves  to  this  work  of  cooperation  is  also 
significant.  It  means  something  when  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Ham- 
mond, from  the  Methodist  Church,  Dr.  Snedecor  and  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Little,  from  the  Presbyterian  Church,  not  to  men- 
tion a  host  of  others  whose  spirits  are  equally  consecrated, 
have  given  themselves  to  this  great  task  of  lifting  the 


RELIGION  THE  COMMON  BASIS  OF  CO-OPERATION         183 

negro.  It  means  something  when  Dr.  James  H.  Dillard,  Mr. 
Jackson  Davis,  Mr.  J.  L.  Sibley,  and  a  number  of  other 
splendid  Southern  men  are  giving  their  lives  without  re- 
serve to  the  intellectual  uplift  of  this  people.  The  time  has 
come  when  some  of  the  very  choicest  spirits  in  our  South- 
land are  ready  and  glad  to  share,  with  our  brother  in  black 
by  our  sides,  whatever  blessing  education  and  Christianity 
have  brought  to  us. 

I  want  also  to  mention  a  third  sign  of  growing  coopera- 
tion. This  one  lies  not  in  the  realm  of  deeds.  It  goes  deeper 
than  deeds ;  it  lies  in  the  realm  of  attitude  and  motive.  The 
people  of  the  South  have  always  had  a  kindly  feeling  toward 
the  colored  people,  but  it  is  only  of  recent  years  that  it  could 
be  said  that  they  have  come  to  feel  that  the  mass  of  colored 
people  were  actually  going  to  make  real  progress.  In  other 
words,  we  are  coming  to  have  a  broad  and  genuine  con- 
fidence in  the  future  of  the  race.  I  am  not  interested  in  a 
Chinese  because  he  is  a  Chinese;  I  am  not  interested  in  a 
negro  because  he  is  a  negro.  I  am  interested  in  both  be- 
cause they  are  men.  I  am  interested  in  colored  people  be- 
cause they  are  human,  because  in  them  throb  the  same 
human  heart,  the  same  human  aspirations,  the  same  human 
passions  as  throb  in  my  heart.  I  am  interested  in  the  race 
because  it  is  a  race  of  God's  children,  because  I  believe  God 
has  destined  them  to  grow  into  his  likeness  just  as  he  yearns 
to  have  all  men  grow  into  his  likeness.  And  one  of  the  most 
hopeful  signs  of  our  time  lies  in  our  growing  confidence  that 
this  race,  along  with  other  races  of  humanity,  is  making- 
genuine  progress.  All  colored  men  are  not  making  prog- 
ress, neither  are  all  white  men.  There  are  lazy  colored 
men  and  lazy  white  men.  There  are  criminal  white  men 
and  criminal  negroes.  There  are  dishonest  colored  men 
and  dishonest  white  men.  But  as  a  race  we  believe  the 
negro  is  moving  upward  into  respectability,  into  efficiency, 
into  Christian  character,  and^  every  Southern  white  man 
knows  that  many  of  them  have  built  nobly  and  well.  We 
believe  they  have  inherent  qualities  of  loyalty,  faithfulness, 
nobility,  and  religious  responsiveness.  We  believe  that 
these  qualities  under  the  guidance  of  God  and  Christian 


184  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

environment  can  be  made  to  bloom  into  high  and  noble 
character.  We  believe  that  this  generation  of  better  trained 
colored  people  will  have  sanity  and  judgment  enough  to 
see  that  character  and  not  clothes,  manliness  and  not  man- 
nerisms will  count.  We  believe  that  those  sterling  qualities 
which  made  the  early  slaves  faithful,  trustworthy,  loyal,  and 
devoted  will,  when  the  race  has  found  time  to  adjust  itself 
to  the  conditions  of  a  larger  race  life,  ripen  into  a  more 
beautiful  fruitage  than  slavery  was  ever  able  to  show. 

Some  of  you  do  not  recognize  what  a  tremendous  thing 
I  am  saying.  You  forget  that  many  people  have  felt — and 
it  was  only  a  natural  inference — that  those  fine  qualities 
of  character  displayed  by  the  faithful  slaves  were  the  fruit- 
age of  hardship  and  careful  training.  There  has  been  grave 
doubt  on  the  part  of  many  as  to  whether  these  qualities 
would  spring  again  from  a  different  soil.  It  is  a  stern  fact 
that  they  have  not  always  sprung  from  the  new  soil  of  lib- 
erty. Just  as  many  people  are  opposed  to  college  life  for 
white  boys,  because  its  larger  liberty  often  mars  instead  of 
makes  manhood,  so  many  have  felt  that  the  new  conditions 
of  life  for  the  negro  race  would  make  it  impossible  to  de- 
velop the  sterling  qualities  of  a  former  age.  Now,  I  say 
the  Southern  white  people  are  beginning  to  believe  that  this 
is  a  false  assumption.  They  are  beginning  to  see  that  the 
nobler  qualities  of  the  past  are  rebudding  after  the  rude 
transplanting  of  the  sixties,  and  that  additional  qualities 
of  nobility  begin  to  show  themselves  which  could  never  have 
appeared  under  older  conditions. 

Now  the  basis  of  this  conviction  is  distinctly  religious. 
We  are  coming  to  have  a  greater  confidence  in  the  negro 
because  we  are  coming  to  have  a  greater  confidence  in  all 
humanity.  We  are  coming  to  appreciate,  as  men  never  be- 
fore in  the  history  of  the  world  appreciated,  that  person- 
ality is  sacred,  it  is  valuable,  it  is  Godlike.  We  are  coming 
to  feel  that  in  every  human  being  there  is  the  image  of  God. 
It  may  be  distorted,  the  likeness  may  be  blurred,  but  essen- 
tially the  image  is  there.  We  are  coming  to  feel  about  hu- 
manity as  Jesus  felt,  that  all  are  capable  of  becoming  true 
sons  and  daughters  of  an  eternal  father.    When  this  con- 


RELIGION  THE  COMMON  BASIS  OF  CO-OPERATION         185 

ception  once  takes  hold  it  is  profound  and  far-reaching.  It 
at  once  means  that  I  cannot  despise  my  neighbor,  white  or 
colored;  it  means  that  I  must  actively  help  all  those  who 
are  my  neighbors — and  in  Jesus'  splendid  teachings  my 
neighbor  is  he  who  has  the  deepest  need. 

As  Dr.  Washington  well  reminded  us,  in  social  relations 
it  is  best  for  both  races  that  we  live  distinct,  but  we  may 
do  it  in  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  and  love.  This  conception 
of  the  kinship  of  all  men  to  God  at  once  pulls  the  fang  of 
all  race  hatred — for  how  can  I  hate  a  man  who  is  the  child 
of  my  father,  God,  and  hence  my  brother?  He  who  comes 
to  really  believe  in  the  sacredness  of  humanity  must  lose  his 
antagonism  to  all  men. 

There  is  another  phase  of  religious  development  in  the 
South  which  is  significant  in  relation  to  this  race  problem. 
We  are  fast  getting  away  from  religion  as  creed  or  as  a 
mechanical  system.  We  are  coming  to  feel  more  and  more 
that  religion  is  life  and  life  is  relationship.  To  be  religious 
is  to  be  rightly  related  to  all  persons,  God  and  men.  Or 
to  put  it  differently,  to  be  religious  is  to  be  a  friendly  son 
of  God  and  a  brotherly  friend  of  men.  Life  and  religion 
are  not  therefore  simply  orthodoxy :  some  of  the  most  deep- 
ly prejudiced  people  I  have  ever  met  were  theologically  so 
sound  that  they  were  all  sound.  No!  life  and  religion  are 
right  relationship  toward  all  persons.  And  when  we  say 
all  persons  we  mean  all.  We  mean  a  real  democracy.  Many 
people  talk  about  democracy  who  cannot  call  the  first  letter 
in  the  alphabet  of  democratic  life.  They  have  scarcely  seen 
the  faintest  far-off  glimmerings  of  the  ideal.  Real  democ- 
racy is  treating  every  man  as  if  he  had  value  in  himself. 
It  is  recognizing  the  essential  sacredness  of  all  persons.  It 
is  adjusting  yourself  into  right  relations  with  all  men. 
This  is  real  democracy,  a  more  genuine  democracy  than 
Jefferson  ever  thought  or  dreamed.  And  that  kind  of  de- 
mocracy can  be  built  on  nothing  else  save  a  deep  religious 
conviction  that  God  dwells  in  every  man.  The  religion 
which  fails  to  base  itself  deep  on  personal  relationship 
can  avail  nothing  in  bridging  the  chasm  between  diverged 
races. 


186  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

Some  two  years  ago  I  undertook  a  tour  of  investigation 
which  brought  me  into  seventeen  different  countries,  in 
many  of  which  racial  problems  were  most  acute.  In  Turkey, 
for  illustration,  we  saw  the  bitter  hatred  between  Jews, 
Mohammedans,  Druses,  Koords,  and  Armenians.  These 
divisions  are  partly  racial  and  partly  creedal,  but  they  are 
divisions  and  subdivisions  as  deep  as  the  natures  of  men. 
The  Moslems  look  down  upon  the  non-Moslems,  or  "Raga" 
as  they  are  called,  consider  that  they  have  no  rights  which 
a  Mohammedan  need  respect,  and  treat  them  with  cruelty 
in  the  extreme.  In  Southeast  Europe  the  conditions  are 
no  better.  Differences  in  language,  religion,  political  ideals, 
and  social  customs  have  broken  life  into  segments,  the  mem- 
bers of  each  group  hating  the  members  of  every  other  with 
all  the  virulence  of  their  savage  natures. 

I  have  heard  it  said  here  in  the  South  that  we  have  not 
made  as  much  progress  in  race  cooperation  as  has  been 
made  in  some  other  parts  of  the  world.  Now  I  am  well 
aware  that  there  are  many  difficulties  and  problems  yet 
unsolved  here,  but  my  reading  and  my  own  personal  ob- 
servation lead  me  to  say  that  in  no  other  nation  in  the 
world  where  two  widely  separated  racial  types  live  side  by 
side  is  there  one-tenth  as  much  mutual  respect,  mutual  con- 
fidence, and  genuine  cooperation  as  that  which  we  have 
here  in  the  South.  We  are  not  only  decades  and  even  cen- 
turies ahead  of  other  nations  in  our  judgment  of  race  prob- 
lems, but  I  honestly  believe  that  it  has  been  given  to  us, 
by  the  power  of  almighty  God,  to  show  to  the  world  what 
can  be  done  under  the  spell  of  high  ideals  and  religious 
consecration  to  bring  men  into  vital  brotherhood  even 
though  we  may  be  as  far  apart  in  our  racial  instincts  as 
are  the  white  and  the  black — perhaps  the  two  most  dis- 
tinctive races  in  the  world. 

My  study  of  conditions  in  other  lands  led  me  to  the  de- 
liberate conclusion  that  the  chief  underlying  cause  for  our 
better  understanding  here  may  be  found,  not  simply  in  the 
fact  of  our  common  langauge  and  our  common  religion,  but 
in  the  peculiar  spirit  which  dominates  the  religions  of  the 
Bible.     No  other  religions  in  the  world  are  so  fitted  to 


RELIGION  THE  COMMON  BASIS  OF  CO-OPERATION         187 

stand  the  strain  of  race  problems  as  are  our  religions  of 
Judaism  and  Christianity.  No  other  religions  in  the  world 
lay  such  deep  and  vital  stress  on  the  sacredness  of  the  in- 
dividual man  as  do  these  religions  of  the  Bible,  and  this 
valuation  of  the  individual  is  the  very  foundation  and  cor- 
ner stone  of  all  inter-racial  understanding  and  respect.  To 
be  sure,  Mohammedanism  admits  all  adherents  into  its 
rights,  and  seemingly  puts  all  on  a  common  social  basis; 
but  the  deep  cleavage  between  man  and  man  which  persists 
in  Mohammedanism  can  never  be  bridged  by  any  force  in- 
herent in  that  religion,  simply  because  that  religion  has 
no  inherent  valuation  of  man.  No  religion  which  degrades 
womanhood  and  despises  the  deepest  sanctities  of  life  can 
possibly  have  within  it  the  power  to  dignify  life  and  make 
humanity  sacred,  for  we  cannot  despise  and  degrade  a  part 
of  humanity  and  still  hope  to  keep  true  our  personal  values. 
The  fact  is  that  in  most  of  these  countries  religion  is  one 
of  the  chief  sources  of  irritation,  rather  than  a  power  of 
amelioration. 

It  ought  still  further  to  be  said  that  the  religion  of  the 
Bible  and  this  religion  alone  has  the  transforming  power 
to  take  the  ignorant,  the  degraded,  the  weak,  and  make 
them  into  intelligent,  respectable,  and  aggressive  charac- 
ters. It  is  only  through  the  transforming  power  of  this 
religion  that  the  potential  sacredness  in  each  human  soul 
can  be  brought  into  concrete  reality.  This  is  the  founda- 
tion of  our  new  hope  and  our  new  cooperation  in  the  South. 
We  are  seeing  all  about  us  men  and  women  snatched  from 
the  very  jaws  of  death — moral,  social,  intellectual  death — 
men  and  women  lifted  out  of  the  slums,  the  back  alleys, 
the  horrible  tenement  houses — and  by  this  mysterious  pow- 
er made  into  new  and  vital  souls,  ready  to  bear  their  share 
in  the  work  of  the  world.    It  is  this  that  gives  us  hope. 

I  know  not  how  much  emphasis  the  remainder  of  the 
country  may  put  on  the  bearing  of  religion  in  the  bettering 
of  social  conditions,  but  this  I  do  know:  that  here  in  the 
South,  where  our  great  social  problem  is  a  problem  of  atti- 
tude toward  persons  of  a  different  race,  a  different  color, 
and  a  different  heritage,  there  is  only  one  thing  that  is  far- 


188  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

reaching  enough,  only  one  thing  profound  enough,  only  one 
thing  dynamic  enough  to  make  us  all  into  a  common  hu- 
manity, and  that  is  religion.  No  superficial  humanitarian- 
ism  or  philanthropy  will  do  this. 

Our  problem  is  a  problem  of  attitude  both  for  colored 
and  white.  The  white  man  must  come  to  believe  in  and 
trust  the  negro,  and  the  negro  must  come  to  believe  in  and 
trust  the  white  man.  And  this  trust  and  confidence  can 
alone  rest  on  the  fact  of  transformed  lives — and  religion 
alone  transforms  life.  We  will  have  confidence  in  each 
other  only  because  our  father,  God,  has  had  sufficient  ac- 
cess to  our  hearts,  that  white  and  colored  alike  shall  have 
been  transformed  into  a  society  of  brotherly  men.  This 
our  religion  is  set  to  do,  and,  although  th«  process  Is  slow 
and  painful,  and  not  a  few  have  become  weary  of  waiting, 
I  believe  the  process  Is  surely  going  forward,  and  white 
and  colored  alike  are  being  transformed  into  mom  God- 
like men  and  women. 

It  is  therefore  most  fitting  that  in  a  conference  on  Social 
conditions  this  religious  basis  of  cooperation  between  the 
races  should  be  given  prominence.  Here,  and  only  here, 
can  a  deep  note  of  optimism  be  struck ;  for  it  is  this  religion 
of  the  Bible  alone  which  gives  a  motive  big  enough  and  true 
enough  to  float  our  lives  out  of  the  shallows  of  pessimism 
and  prejudice  into  the  great  sea  of  mutual  confidence,  co- 
operation, and  brotherhood. 

It  is  my  deep  and  abiding  conviction  that  although  our 
problems  may  be  great  and  the  strain  at  times  hard  to 
bear,  nevertheless  we  are  making  real  progress.  And  if 
our  problems  are  ever  solved,  it  will  be  because  the  spirit 
of  Jesus  so  pervades  us  all  that  the  white  man  will  trust  the 
colored  man  and  the  colored  man  sincerely  believe,  in  the 
white  man,  and  both  together  unite  with  God  in  working 
out  a  truer  and  a  grander  destiny.  Our  motto  is  "Brother- 
hood."   If  you  are  with  us,  come  on. 


IV.    ORGANIZATION 


Constitution  and  By-Laws  of  the  Congress 

Officers  and  Committees 

Report  of  Committee  on  Social  Program 

Resolutions  Adopted  by  the  Congress 

Membership 

Index  of  Speakers,  Writers,  and  Officers 

Index  of  Subjects 


CONSTITUTION  AND  BY-LAWS  OF  THE  CONGRESS 

PURPOSES  AND  MEMBERSHIP 

The  purposes  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  are 
to  study  and  improve  social,  civic,  and  economic  conditions 
in  the  South.  Its  membership  shall  be  composed  of  all 
persons  interested  in  its  work  who  shall  register  their 
names  and  pay  the  annual  fee.  The  members  shall  be  of  the 
following  classes:  Regular  members,  $2  per  year;  sustain- 
ing members,  $10;  life  members,  $100.  Any  person  paying 
any  of  these  fees  shall  receive  a  copy  of  the  proceedings 
and  of  any  other  publications  of  the  Congress.  Delegates 
to  the  Congress  may  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  each 
State  cooperating  with  it,  by  Mayors  of  cities  in  these 
States,  and  by  organizations  and  institutions  engaged  in 
social  service,  and,  upon  payment  of  the  membership  fees, 
shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges. 

MEETINGS 

The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  shall  meet  once  each 
year,  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  designated  by  the 
Committee  on  Time  and  Place.  During  each  meeting  the 
President  shall  appoint  a  committee  of  five  members  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  determine  the  time  and  place  of  the  next 
meeting,  the  amount  for  local  and  general  expenses  to  be 
raised  by  the  local  committee,  and  announce  its  conclusion 
within  three  months  after  its  appointment.  All  invitations 
from  cities  shall  be  referred  to  this  committee.  There  shall 
be  a  local  committee  in  each  city  having  a  meeting  of  the 
Congress,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  pro- 
vide any  necessary  funds  and  make  all  local  arrangements 
for  the  meeting  satisfactory  to  the  Executive  Committee. 

OFFICERS 

The  officers  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  shall 
be  a  President,  First  and  Second  Vice  Presidents,  a  General 
Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  a  Corresponding  Secretary  for 


192  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

each  State.  All  of  these  officers  shall  be  elected  annually 
by  the  Congress  upon  nomination  of  the  Committee  on 
Organization. 

COMMITTEES 

The  standing  committees  shall  be  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee; a  committee  on  each  subject  which  it  is  proposed  to 
discuss  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Congress,  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Committee  on  Organization ;  and  a  committee,  com- 
posed of  the  Chairmen  of  these  standing  committees,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  report  a  social  program  before  the  close 
of  the  Congress,  and  to  which  committee  all  resolutions 
shall  be  referred  without  debate. 

The  Executive  Commitee  shall  consist  of  the  President, 
the  Treasurer,  one  member  from  each  Southern  State,  to 
be  elected  annually  by  the  Congress,  together  with  the  ex- 
Presidents  of  the  Congress.  The  members  of  the  other 
standing  committees  shall  likewise  be  elected  annually. 

The  President  shall  at  the  opening  session  appoint  a 
Committee  on  Organization,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  select 
topics  for  discussion  and  nominate  officers  and  committees 
for  the  following  Congress. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  have  power  to  transact 
all  necessary  business  in  the  interim  between  the  meetings. 
It  may  appoint  sub-committees  to  attend  to  matters  of  de- 
tail. Meetings  of  the  committee  shall  be  called  by  the  Presi- 
dent, and  five  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  during 
the  sessions  of  the  Congress  and  three  members  in  the  in- 
terim between  meetings. 

DUTIES  OP  OFFICERS 

The  President  shall  be  the  chief  executive  officer  and 
Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Congress.  He 
shall  generally  supervise  the  work  of  the  committees,  and 
shall  have  power  to  accept  resignations  and  fill  vacancies 
among  the  officers  or  committees.  In  the  event  of  a  vacancy 
in  the  office  of  President,  it  shall  be  filled  by  the  First  Vice 
President;  and  in  the  event  of  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of 
First  Vice  President,  it  shall  be  filled  by  the  Second  Vice 
President. 


CONSTITUTION  AND  BY-LAWS  OP  THE  CONGRESS       193 

The  General  Secretary  shall  be  ex  officio  Secretary  of 
ihe  Executive  Committee.  He  shall  conduct  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  Congress  with  officers,  committees,  and 
others  under  the  direction  of  the  President.  He  shall  dis- 
tribute the  announcements  and  programs  and  keep  a  cor- 
rect roll  of  members.  He  shall  receive  all  membership  fees 
and  proceeds  of  sales  of  the  reports  of  the  proceedings,  and 
pay  the  same  promptly  to  the  Treasurer.  He  shall  receive 
such  compensation  and  allowance  for  expenses  as  may  be 
fixed  by  the  Executive  Committee,  and  shall  perform  such 
other  duties  as  shall  be  ordered  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

The  Treasurer  shall  receive  and  disburse  all  moneys  of 
the  Congress.  All  disbursements  shall  be  made  only  upon 
the  order  of  the  General  Secretary,  approved  by  the  Presi- 
dent or  by  some  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  to  be 
named  by  the  President. 

The  retiring  President  of  the  Congress  and  the  General 
Secretary  shall  have  charge  of  the  editing  and  publishing 
of  the  Proceedings. 

The  Corresponding  Secretaries  shall  endeavor  to  stimu- 
late interest  in  the  Congress  in  their  respective  States,  and 
shall  render  annual  reports  to  the  General  Secretary  as  to 
social,  civic,  and  economic  progress  within  the  said  States. 

PROGRAM  AND  PROCEDURE 

The  program  for  each  annual  meeting  shall  be  arranged 
by  the  President  in  consultation  with  the  Chairman  of  each 
standing  committee,  and  it  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  for  its  approval. 

All  papers  shall  first  be  presented  to  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee before  they  are  read  to  the  Congress. 

AMENDMENTS 

These  by-laws  may  be  amended  by  a  majority  vote  at 
any  meeting  of  the  Congress,  provided  that  all  amendments 
shall  first  be  submitted  to  the  Executive  Committee. 


18 


194  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

AMENDMENT  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION 


At  the  regular  session  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Con- 
gress at  the  Orpheum  Theatre  in  Memphis,  May  8,  1914, 
the  Executive  Committee  recommended  that  the  by-law  re- 
garding the  time  and  place  of  meeting  be  changed  by  strik- 
ing out  the  words,  "except  that  it  shall  meet  with  the  Na- 
tional Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction  when  it  meets 
in  the  South,"  and  make  it  to  read:  "The  Southern  Socio- 
logical Congress  shall  meet  once  each  year  at  such  time 
and  place  as  may  be  designated  by  the  Committee  on  Time 
and  Place." 

The  recommendation  was  adopted  by  the  Congress  by 
unanimous  vote. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CONGRESS  195 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE   CONGRESS 


OFFICERS 

President Gov.  William  H.  Mann,  Richmond,  Va. 

First  Vice  President. .  .Rev.  John  E.  White,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Second  Vice  President Miss  Fannie  E.  S.  Heck,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Treasurer Mr.  M.  E.  Holdemess,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

General  Secretary Mr.  J.  E.  McCuUoch,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Founder Mrs.  Anna  Russell  Cole,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

Gov.  William  H.  Mann,  Chairman Richmond,  Va. 

Gov.  Ben  W,  Hooper Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mrs.  W.  L.  Murdock Birmingham,  Ala. 

Prof.  C.  H.  Brough Fayetteville,  Ark. 

Dr.  J.  H.   Dillard Charlottesville,  Va. 

Dr,  Wickliffe  Rose Washington,  D.  C. 

Dr.  Arch  C.  Cree Atlanta,  Ga. 

Prof.  L.  L.  Bernard Gainesville,  Fla. 

Dr.  C.   S.   Gardner Louisville,   Ky. 

Prof.  "B~  C.  Caldwell Natchitoches,  La. 

Miss   Elizabeth   Gillman Baltimore,   Md. 

Dr.  W.  S.  Leathers University,  Miss. 

Mr.  Jacob  Billikopf Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Mr.  Clarence  Poe Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Prof.  Jerome  Dowd Norman,  Okla. 

Judge  J.  A.  McCuUough Greenville,  S,  C. 

Mr.  W.  R,  Cole Nashville,  Tenn. 

Prof,  C.  S.  Potts Austin,  Tex. 

Prof.  E.  H.  Vickers Morgantown,  W.  Va. 

Mr.  M.  E.  Holderness Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mr.  J.  E.  McCuUoch,  Secretary Nashville,  Tenn. 

STATE   CORRESPONDING   SECRETARIES 

Judge  W.  H.  Thomas Montgomery,  Ala. 

Mr.  M.  A.  Auerbach Little  Rofjk,  Ark. 

Mr.  Walter  S.  Ufford Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Marcus  C.  Fagg Jacksonville,  Fla. 

Rev.  C.  C.  Jarrell Athens,   Ga. 

Miss   Frances  Ingram ^. Louisville,   Ky. 

Miss  Jean  M.  Gordon New  Orleans,  La. 

Mr.  J.  W.  Magruder Baltimore,  Md, 

Dr,  A.  A.  Kern Jackson,  Miss. 

Mr.   Roger  N.   Baldwin St.   Louis,   Mo. 

Miss  Daisy  Denson Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Miss  Kate  Barnard Oklahoma  City,  Okla. 

Miss  E.  McClintock Columbia,  S.   C. 

Mr,  James  P,  Kranz Memphis,  Tenn. 

Mr.  R.  J.  Newton Austin,  Tex. 

Dr,   E.  G.  Williams Richmond,  Va. 

Miss  Elizabeth  Cummins Wheeling,  W.  Va. 


196  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

STANDING  COMMITTEES 

PUBLIC   HEALTH 

Dr.  W.  S.  Rankin,  Chairman,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 
Mr.  R.  J.  Newton,  Secretary,  Austin,  Tex. 

Dr.  Seale  Harris,  Mobile,  Ala.  Mr.  L.  A.  Halbert,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Dr.  J.  L.  Green,  Little  Rock,  Ark.  Col.  J.  L.  Ludlow,  Winston-Salem 
Dr.  Cressy  L.  Wilbur,  Washington,  Dr.  Irwin  Wellston,  Oklahoma  City 

D.  C.  Mayor    W.    H.    Gibbes,    Columbia, 

Dr.  Morgan  Smith,  Little  Rock  S.  C. 

Miss  Rosa  C.  Lowe,  Atlanta,  Ga.  Mrs.  S.  S.  Crockett,  Nashville 
Dr.  Oscar  Dowling,  New  Orleans   Dr.  M.  V.  Godbey,  Charleston,  W. 
Dr.  William  Burdick,  Baltimore  Va. 

Dr.  John  C.  Herrington,  Asylum,  Dr.  E.  G.  Williams,  Richmond,  Va. 

Miss.  Dr.  Powhatan  S.  Schenck,  Norfolk, 

Dr.  E.  A.  Roan,  Wesson,  Miss.  Va. 

COURTS    AND    PRISONS 

Hon.  John  H.  DeWitt,  Chairman,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Prof.  C.  S.  Potts,  Secretary,  Austin,  Tex, 

Judge  W.  H.  Thomas,  Montgomery  Judge  Theo.  D.  B.  Grear,  Vinita, 
Mr.  Durand  Whipple,  Little  Rock,        Okla. 

Ark.  Judge  J.   A.  McCullough,   Green- 

Mr.  Wm.  H.  Baldwin,  Washington,      ville,  S.  C. 

D.  C.  John  Highsaw,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

Prof.  Arthur  Williams,  Tallahas-  Mr.  Lewis  T.  Baxter,  Nashville 

see,  Fla,  Miss  Louise  F.  Price,  Richmond,  Va. 

Mr.  Phillip  Weltner,  Atlanta,  Ga.  Rev.  G.  G.  Smeede,  Jackson,  Miss. 
Mr.  A.  J.  C.  Wells,  Frankfort,  Ky,  Prof.  Maurice  Parmelee,  Columbia, 
Lewis  H.  Levin,  Baltimore,  Md.  Mo. 

Rev.  J.  T.  Maston,  Richmond,  Va.  Judge  W.  J.  Bacon,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
Dr.    W.    H.    Oates,    Montgomery, 


Ala. 


CHILD   WELFARE 


Dr.  A.  J.  McKelway,  Chairman,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Dr.  A,  T.  Jamison,  Secretary,  Greenwood,  S.  C. 

Mrs.  W.  L.  Murdock,  Birmingham  Mr.   George   L.   Sehon,  Louisville 
Mr.  M.  A.  Auerbach,  Little  Rock     Miss  Jean  M.  Gordon,  New  Orleans 
Miss  Julia  C.  Lathrop,  Washington,Mr.  Roger  N.  Baldwin,  St.  Louis 

D.  C,  Mr.  Alex.   Fitzhugh,  Vicksburg 

Mr.  Marcus  C.  Fagg,  Jacksonville  Miss  Nola   McKinney,   Fairmont, 
Miss  Elenor  Raoul,  Atlanta,  Ga.  W.  Va. 

Mr.  W.  S.  Swift,  Greensboro,  N.  C.Mr.  Chas.  F.  Spiess,  New  Mexico 
Miss  Kate  Barnard,  Oklahoma  CityMr.  M.  G.  Cunniffe,  Crown  King, 
Dr.  J.  R.  Jewell,  Fayetteville,  Ark.      Arizona 
Mrs.  Beverly  Mumford,  Richmond, 

Va. 

ORGANIZED   CHARITIES 

Mr.  Joseph  C.  Logan,  Chairman,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Mrs,  J.  C,  Love,  Secretary,  Houston,  Tex. 

Mr.  Wm.   M.  McGarth,  Birming-  Miss  Helen  B.  Pendleton,  Savaa- 
ham,  Ala.  nah,  Ga. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CONGRESS  197 

Mr.  John  Melpolder,  Fort  Smith,   Mr.  E.  C.  Dinwiddle,  Washington, 

Ark.  D.  C. 

Miss  Eloise  Stewart,  Columbus,  Ga.Mrs.  C.  H.  Alexander,  Jackson, 
Miss  Cora  M.  Bain,  Louisville,  Ky.        Miss. 
Mr.  Chas.  H.  Patterson,  New  Or-  Dr.  I.  Lewinthal,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

leans,  La.  Mr.  Gaston  C.  Raoul,  Chattanooga, 

Miss  Irene  McAlpine,  Cumberland,       Tenn. 

Md.  Mr.  Barton  Myers,  Norfolk,  Va. 

Mr.  John  L.  Green,  Jackson,  Miss.  Mr.  James  Buchanan,  Richmond 
Prof.  Neil  Carruthers,  Fayette-     Dr.  J.  C.  Futrell,  Fayetteville,  Ark. 

ville.  Ark.  Mr.  George  F.  Damon,  Kansas  City, 

Mr.  E.  W.  Ogden,  Knoxville,  Tenn.      Mo. 

RACE    RELATIONS 

Dr.  James  H.  Dillard,  Chairman,  Charlottesville,  Va. 
Dr.  W.  D.  Weatherford,  Secretary,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Dr.  J.  R.  Deloach,  Athens,  Ga.        Bishop   T.   D.   Bratton,  Jackson, 
Mr.  J.  L.  Sibley,  Montgomery,  Ala.       Miss. 

Mr.  L.  M,  Favrot,  Little  Rock,  Ark.Maj.  R.  R.  Moton,  Hampton,  Va. 
Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  Washing-  Dr.  C.  B.  Wilmer,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

ton,  D.  C.  Rev.  J.  G.  Snedecor,  Tuscaloosa, 

Prof.  E.  C.  Branson,  Athens,  Ga.  Ala. 

Miss  Grace  Bigelow  House,  St.       Mr.  A.  H.  Stone,  Dunleith,  Miss. 

Helena  Island,  S.  C.  Rev.  H.  K.  Boyer,  Winston-Salem, 

Hon.   William   H.   Fleming,   Au-  N.  C. 

gusta,  Ga.  Dr.  J.  D.  Hammond,  Augusta,  Ga. 

Mr.    Arch    Trawick,    Nashville,      Bishop  W.  R.  Lambuth,  Nashville 

Tenn.  Dr.  George  W.  Hubbard,  Nashville 

Rev.  John   Little,  Louisville,   Ky.  Rev.  A.  J.  Barton,  Waco,  Tex. 
Bishop  W.  P.  Thirkield,  New  Or-  Dr.  H.  B.  Frissell,  Hampton,  Va. 

leans.  La.  Miss  Lucy  Laney,  Augusta,  Ga. 

Prof.  W.  S.  Sutton,  Austin,  Tex.     Prof.  C.  S.  Morse,  Columbia,  S.  C. 

CHURCH  AND  SOCIAL   SERVICE 

Dr.  John  A.  Rice,  Chairman,  Fort  Worth,  Tex. 
Rev.  A.  M.  Trawick,  Secretary,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Miss  Eva  Reichardt,  Little  Rock    Dr.  E.  L.  Powell,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Miss  Mabel  K.  Howell,  Kansas  CityProf.  David  S.  Hill,  New  Orleans 

Mrs.  John  Little,  Louisville,  Ky.     Dr.  J.  H.  Apple,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Rev.  William  J.  Kirby,  Washing-  Bishop  Theodore  D.  Bratton,  Jack- 
ton,  D.  C.  son,  Miss. 

Capt.  W.  F.  Gwynne,  Fort  Myers,  Rabbi  Emanuel  Sternheim,  Baton 
Fla.  Rouge,  La. 

Dr.  J.  E.  White,  Atlanta,  Ga.  Dr.  C.  S.  Gardner,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Bishop  Robert  Strange,  Wilming-  Mr.  John  P.  Pettyjohn,  Lynchburg 
ton,  N.  C.  Mr.  J.  L.  Roper,  Norfolk,  Va. 

Pres.  E.  M.  Poteat,  Greenville,  S.  C.Rev.  Frank  Jackson,  Bluefield,  W. 

Dr.  J.  E.  Clark,  Nashville,  Tenn.  Va. 

Father  Peter  A.  Crumbly,  Mem- Dr.  C.  A.  Waterfield,  Paris,  Tenn. 
phis,  Tenn.  Dr.  Arch  C.  Cree,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Dr.  Mercer  P.  Logan,  Nashville     Dr.  W.  L.  Poteat,  Wake  Forest, 

Rev.  H.  D.  Phillips,  LaGrange,  Ga.       N.  C. 

COMMITTEE    ON    ORGANIZATION 

Dr.  W.  D.  Weatherford,  Chairman,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Dr.  C.  H.  Brough,  Fayetteville,  ArkDr.  Ben  Cox,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
Dr.  Arch  C.  Cree,  Atlanta,  Ga.      Bishop  Theodore  D.  Bratton,  Jack- 


198  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

r 

Miss  Jean  M.  Gordon,  New  Or-  son,  Miss. 

leans,  La.  Dr.  C.  S.  Gardner,  Louisville,  Ky. 

SOCIAL    PROGRAM    AND    RESOLITTIONS 

Dr.  W.  S.  Rankin,  Chairman,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 
Mr.  John  H.  DeWitt,  Nashville      Dr.  J.  H.   Dillard,  Charlottesville, 
Dr.  A.  J.  McKelway,  Washington,       Va. 

D.  C.  Dr.    John    A.    Rice,    Fort    Worth, 

Mr.  J.  C.  Logan,  Atlanta,  Ga.  Tex. 

TIME   AND   PLACE 

Dr.  B.  C.  Caldwell,  Chairman,  Natchitoches,  La. 
Dr.  C.  S.  Potts,  Austin,  Tex.  Mr.  John  H.  DeWitt,  Nashville 

Mr.  J.  P.  Kranz,  Memphis,  Tenn.  Mr.  C.  C.  Menzler,  Chattanooga 

AUDITING   COMMITTEE 

Hon.  John  H.  Dewitt,  Chairman,  Nashville 
Mr.  W.  R.  Cole,  Nashville  Mr.  Lewis  T.  Baxter,  Nashville 


COMMISSION  TO  STUDY  AND  IMPROVE  LIVING  CONDITIONS 
Gov.  W.  H.  Mann,  Chairman 

ALABAMA  TEXAS 

Gov.  B.  B.  Comer,  Birmingham  Dr.  C.  M.  Bishop,  Georgetown 

Dr.  B.  F.  Riley,  Birmingham  Dr.   A.  J.   Barton,  Waco 

Dr.  Booker  T.  Washington,  Dr.  M.  A.  Dogan,  Marshall 
Tuskegee 


ARKANSAS 


KENTUCKY 


^      _   __   _         ,     „       ,.     .„  Dr.  John  Little,  Louisville 

P/-  ^;  ^m  ?^ough,  Fayetteville  Dj..  c.  S.  Gardner,  Louisville 

Mr.  A.  Tneschmann,  Crossett  Rev.  W.  H.  Sheppard,  Louisville 
James  Booker,  Little  Rock 

DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA  LOUISIANA 

William  H.  Baldwin,  Washington  ?/•  ^-  ^-  ^f^^^^}'  Natchitoches 
Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  Washington    JJ^^s  Jean  M.  Gordon,  New  Orleans 
Prof.  Lewis  H.  Moore,  Washington  ^r-  R-  E.  Jones,  New  Orleans 

FLORIDA  MARYLAND 

Prof.  Arthur  Williams,  TallahasseeMr.  W.  F.  Cochran,  Baltimore 
Prof.  L.  L.  Bernard,  Gainesville     Mr.  J.  W.  Magruder,  Baltimore 
G.  H.  Shuhy,  Jacksonville  Prof.  Harvey  T.  Pratt,  Baltimore 

GEORGIA  MISSISSIPPI 

W.  Woods  White,  Atlanta  Bishop  Theodore  D.  Bratton, 

Dr.  J.  D.  Hammond,  Augusta  Jackson 

Dr.  H.  R.  Butler,  Atlanta  Gov.  Earl  Brewer,  Jackson 

Bishop   Elias   Cottrell,   Holly 

NORTH      CAROLINA  ±^xoi^l>      ±^ixaa      ^kji.i.i^^ii,      x    wixj 

Gov.  R.  B.  Glenn,  Winston-Salem  ^P""Ss 

Bishop  Robert  Strange,  Wilmingtoji  Missouri 

Bishop  George  W.  Clinton,  Prof.  Maurice  Parmelee,  Columbia 

Charlotte  Dr.  Roger  N.  Baldwin,  St.  Louis 

o,^-,.r^r.  ^.^^rr,.T.  Dt.  EmBst  L.  Harrfson,  St.  Louis 

south    CAROLINA  ' 

Judge  J.  A.  McCullough,  Green-  Virginia 

ville  Dr.  J.  T.  Mastin,  Richmond 

Dr.  Henry  N.  Snyder,  SpartanburgDr.  J.  H.  Dillard,  Charlottesville 
W.  F,  Andrews,  Sumter  Maj.  R.  R.  Moton,  Hampton 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CONGRESS 


199 


TENNESSEE 


WEST    VIRGINIA 


Bishop  W.  R..Lambuth,  Nashville  Prof.  E.  H.  Vickers,  Morgantown 
Dr.  W.  D.  Weatherford,  Nashville  Miss  Elizabeth  Cummins,  Wheeling 
Hon.  J.  C.  Napier,  Nashville  Dr.  Clinton  Bamett,  Huntington 

MEMPHIS  COMMITTEES 


CENTRAL.    COMMITTEE 


S.  F.  McDonald,  Chairman 

James  Rawlings 

Chas.  Gerber 

Henry  Loeb 

O.  K.  Houck 

Boiling  Sibley 

S.  M,  Williamson 

June  Rudisill 

Ike  Block 

J.  A.  Riechman 

Mrs.  J.  M.  McCormack 

Mrs.  Benjamin  West 

Mrs.    H.    P.  Tbrdan 

Judge  A.  C.  Floyd 

John  M.   Tuther,   Chairman 
Judge  A.  C.  Floyd 
Hays  Flowers 
M.  E.  Ailes 
Emery  Holmes 


J.   N.   Comatzer 

J.  W.  Rhea 

W.  C.  Duttlinger 

Paul  Towner 

W.  B.  Morgan 

Thomas   B.  King 

Mrs.  Brinkley  Snowden 

Mrs.  Yetta  Levy 

Mrs.  Sam  Oppenheimer 

Mrs.  Ben   Henderson 

Mrs.  Bolton   Smith 

John  M.  Tuther 

James  P.  Kranz,   Secretary 


PUBLICITY 


Mrs.  J.  M.  McCormack 
Mrs.  Sam  Phillips 
Harper  Leach 
G.  W.   Lemons 
P.   N.   Sholars 


ENTERTAINMENT 


Paul  Towner,  Chairman 

Mrs.  J.  A.  Austin 

Milton    Binswanger 

M.  M.  Bosworth 

J.  S.  Canale 

Miss  Frances  Church 

Robt.  E.  Daniels 

Mike   Henderson 

Doc  Hottum 

Mrs.  Ruble  McNeil 

Rev.  P.  A.  Pugh 

Gono  Peirroto 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  R.  O.  Johnston 

Mrs.  Elise  L.  Selden 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  B.  McLean 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Roberinson 

Miss  Helen  Kelly 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  A.  DeLoach 


Mrs.  U.  S.  Rogerson 

Mrs.   I.   Samelson 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  R.  B.  Snowden 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Irby  Bennett 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  A.  Smith 

Miss  Augfusta   Semmes 

Mrs.  R.  L.  Coffin 

Judge  and  Mrs.  Francis  Fentress 

Mrs.  J.    S.   Patterson 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  T.  Schoolfield 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dudley  Sniders 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter  L.  Smith 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  N.  R.  Pritchard 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  C.  Newman 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  A.  Buckhart 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Koucher 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Floumoy 


RECEPTION 


Hon.  E.  H.  Crump,  Chairman 
Henry  Loeb,  Vice  Chairman 
Mrs.  Frances  Anderson 
Miss  Mamie  Abel 
Mrs.   Milton   Anderson 
Mrs.  Fred  Anderson 
Mrs.  J.  A.  Austin 
J.  C.  Ayres 
Ed  Alperin 


H.  Bluthenthal 

Dr.  W.  T.  Black 

Albert  W.  Biggs 

Milton  Binswanger 

F.  H.  Becker 

Rev.  Edmonds  Bennett 

Thos.   B.   Blake 

W.  J.  Bacon 

Mrs.  H.  H.  Boyd 


200 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


Miss  Sara  Alban 
Mrs.  Worthem  Agee 
Dr.  H.  T.  Brooks 
Mrs.   Brady 
C.  W.   Butler 
Frank   Barton 
Chas.    E.    Brown 
Mrs.  Edwin  Bell 
Mrs.   Bettie   Bridges 
Mrs.    Dr.    Black 
Miss  Willie  C.  Byrnes 
M.   M.   Bosworth 
Mrs.  W.  J.  Britton 
Frank   S.   Bragg 
J.  P.  Bailey 
C.  F.  Bauer 
L.  L.  Bebout 

B.  H.  Betts 
J.  R.  Bierma 

C.  S.  Blackburn 
Wm.  Bollinger 
E.  E.  Bookmiller 
E.  S.  Brown 

R.  L.  Durel 

Mrs.   Alex  Block 

Mrs.  Leon  Beckers 

Rev.  Collins 

Dr.  A.  B.  Curry 

Rev.  Ben  Cox 

Rev.  Peter  Crumbly 

I.  N.  Chambers 

J.  S.  Canale 

R.   Cohn 

Mrs.  M.  Chqpsky,  Jr. 

Miss   Mattie  Cunningham 

Miss  Frances  Church 

Mrs.  Eugene  Clark 

Dr.  Willis  C.  Campbell 

Mrs.  R.  L.  Coffin 

Mrs.  J.  R.  Crutcher 

Mrs.  E.  H.  Cronk 

Miss  Ida  Cole 

T.  F.  Calhoun 

R.  E.  Caradine 

C.  G.  Carothers 
R.  B.  Clinton 
J.  D.  Collier 

L.   P.  Cook 
M.   E.   Chism 
O.  H.  Cleveland 
W.   B.  Cleveland 
R.  G.  Copeland 
W.   S.   Craddock 
E.   S.  Crawford 
R.   L.   Crofton 

D.  W.  DeHaven 

Mrs.  Louis  Donelson,  Jr. 
Rev.  Judson  Davis 
W.  T.  Day 


J.  B.  Barry 
Dr.  John  C.  Bell 
Mrs.  Irby  Bennett 
Dr.  Dunavant 
Albert  Dreyfuss 
Thomas  Dies 
Ennis  Douglass 

E.  L.  Daly 

F.  C.  Demuth 
Dr.  E.  C.  Ellett 
J.  P.  Edrington 
Mrs.  B.  M.  Estes 

Mr.  W.  C.  Edmondson 

Mrs.  W.  C.  Edmondson 

Miss  Katherin  Estes 

George   EUman 

Eaton  Elder 

R.  R.  Ellis 

W.  G.  Erskine 

J.  L.  Evans 

Mrs.  L.  H.  Estes 

Rabbi  Wm.  H.  and  Mrs.  Fineshriber 

George  W.  Fisher 

Mrs.  Lawrence  Falls 

John    R.    Flippin 

William  R.   Friedel 

Mrs.  J.  D.  Fulmer 

Mrs.  Katherine  R.  Floyd 

Dr.  Bryce  Fountaine 

Mrs.  Harold  Fortune 

Elliott  Fontaine 

H.  W.  Fisher 

Dr.  M.  Goltman 

Elias  Gates 

Rt.  Rev.  Thos.  F.  Gailor 

Mrs.  Cyrus  Gamsey,  Jr. 

Mrs.  John  Gaston 

Mrs.  Ben  Goodman 

Walter  Goodman 

Dr.   T.   C."  Graves 

Mrs.    Robert   Galloway 

W.  A.  Gage 

L.   H.   Graves 

Cornelia  Godby 

J.  C.  Gilbert 

Nat  S.  Graves 

Mrs.   Daniel   Grant 

Mrs.  Bright  Goodbar 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leo  Goodman 

Miss  Celia  Gassen 

Mrs.  J.  H.  Griffith 

J.  W.  Gates 

J.  M.  Goff 

C.  J.  Goodman 

J.  A.  Goodman 

H.  F.  Gorman 

W.  C.  Graves 

Mrs.  Meyer  Gattman 

Dr.  Marcus  Haase 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CONGRESS 


201 


Chas.  G.  Dean 

J.  B.  Duncan 

Mrs.  Robert  Daniels 

Miss  Ida  Henry 

Mike  Henderson 

Mrs.  N.  P.  Harris 

Mrs.  W.  J.  Hunt 

Miss  Effie  Heiskell 

Dr.  Cummings  Harris 

Mrs.  N.  P.  Hill 

C.  C.   Hansen 

W.  T.  Hale 

Dr.  Henderson 

Dr.  J.  J.  Hobson 

R.  C.  Hobson 

Frank  F.  Hill 

Mrs.   E.  J.   Hobbs 

J.  H.  Haylow 

Lamar  Heiskell 

Warner  Hodges 

A.   E.   Jennings 

R.  O.  Johnston 

C.  D.  Johnston 

F.  G.  Jones 

Miss  Dorothy  Jones 

Miss  Geraldine  Jones 

Dr.  A.  G.  Jacobs 

Simon  Jacobs 

Mrs.  Homer  Jones 

Mrs.  Arthur  Jacobs 

Dr.  Elizabeth  Kane 

P.  C.  Knowlton 

Mrs.  Kimbrough 

E.  C.  Klaiber 

H.  Katz 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  Harry  Kelly 

Mrs.  P.  C.  Knowlton 

Rev.  T.  W.  Lewis 

E.  B.  Lemaster 

Ed  Langley 

Miss  Rosa  Lee 

Mrs.  F.  S.  Latham 

S.  L.  Lee 

Mrs.  Henry  Lewis 

Geo.  C.  Love 

Mrs.  Robert  Lockwood 

Mrs.  J.  H.  Lumpkin 

Mrs.  T.  G.  Lowry 

E.  F.  Leatham 

Dr.  H.  Z.  Landis 

Mrs.  Harry  Lewis 

Mrs.  Walter  McLean 

J.  W.   McKinney 

Dr.  Richard  McKinney 

Mrs.   Lucius   McGehee,   Jr. 

Mrs.  Lucius  McGehee 

J.  D.  McDowell 

Mrs.  J.  S.  McTighe 

Mrs.  Ruble  McNiil 


Rev.   H.   P.  Hunt 

F.  H.  Heiskell 
Doc  Hottum 

Mrs.  Laura  Morton 

Miss  Amy   Morton 

Charles  W.  Metcalf,  Jr. 

Sanford   Morison 

Judge  Walton  Malone 

Rev.  J.  Craik  Morris 

Rev.  R.  B.  Maury 

J.   T.  Morgan 

C.   R.   Mason 

Alfred  Mason 

Mrs.  Battle  Malone 

Mrs.  L.  T.  Manker 

Mrs.  W.  D.  Mallory 

Charles  R.  Miller 

Mrs.  I.  L.  Mock 

Mrs.  T.   S.   Miller 

Mrs.  W.  I.  Moody 

Dr.  Battle  Malone 

Dr.  Edward  Clay  Mitchell 

Dr.  Alphonse  Meyer 

Mrs.  Moore  Moore 

Mrs.  John  Martin 

"Heber  Moss 

H.  S.  L.  Martin 

C.    D,    Marsilliot 

Mrs.  J.  B.  Mathis 

St.  Elmo  Newton 

Mrs.  R.  G.  Newsum 

Mrs.  L.  N.  Nolan 

Mrs.  J.  P.  Oliver 

C.  C.  Ogilvie 

Mrs.  J.  C.  Ottinger 

J.  C.  Ottinger 

A.  B.  Pittman 
Rev.  P.  A.  Pugh 
John  R.  Pepper 

B.  F.  Powell 
Mrs.  Sam  Phillips 
George  W.  Pease 
William  Pritchard 
J.  A.   Price 

Miss  Plumijier 
Miss  Jennie  Proudfit 
Mrs.  J.  W.  Proudfit 
L.  G.  Pape 
Mrs.  Joseph  Peters 
Mrs.  Robert  Proudfit 
:Mrs.  E.  S.  Polk 
Mrs.  L.  E.  Patton 

G.  E.  Patteson 
W.  C.  Paul 

E.  W.  Porter 

C.  B.  Quinn 

Rev.  J.  W.  Rowlett 
J.  V.  Rush 

F.  W.  Roudebush 


202 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


E.  L.  McRae 

B.  L.  Mallery 
M.  H.  Mayor 

Miss  Amelia  Russell 
Mrs.  P.  B.  Russell 
Mrs.  Joseph   Rosenfield 
Mrs.  Frank  Rice 
Sidney  Read 

C.  P.  Rauch 
Bolton  Smith 
Rabbi  M.  Sandfield 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  W.  G.  Somerville 

C.  0.  Scholder 

Mrs.  C.  D.  Smith 

Mrs.  C.  K.  Smith 

Mrs.  P.  S.  Smithwick 

TVfrs.   W.  A.   Smith 

Mrs.  W.  M.  Slack 

Mr.   N.  W.   Speers 

Mrs.  N.  W.  Speers 

Mrs.  Abe  Scharf 

Leon  Sternberg 

Dave  Sternberg 

Mrs.  W.  C.  Knight 

Mrs.  C.  W.  Carver 

Mrs.  S.  J.  Hungerford,  Jr. 

Miss  Montgomery  Copper 

Mrs.  C.  F.  Farnsworth 

Mrs.  T.  B.  King 

Mrs.   Ike   Block 

J.  M.  McCormack 

H.  P.  Jordan 

Benjamin  G.  West 

H.   C.   Oppenheimer 

Ben  Henderson 

Bolton  Smith 

C.  E.  Cop 

William    Bergschicker 

Mrs.  S.  F.  McDonald 

Mrs.  Charles  Gerber 

Mrs.  June  Rudisill 

Mrs.  James  Patteson 

Carol  P.  Cooper 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  P.  J.  Mooney 

Mrs.    E.   H.   Crump 

HALLS 

James   Rawlings,   Chairman 
Dorian  Fleming 
John  Lippit 
Abe  Lewis 
John  Flippin 


Jules  B.  Rozier 

Mrs.  Isaac  Reese 

T.  K.  Riddick 

Mrs.  D.  H.  Crump 

Mrs.  E.  M.  Ellis 

Mrs.  J.  P.  Kranz 

Mrs.  C.  G.   Smith 

F.  E.  Gary 

Mrs.  L.  G.  Van  Ness 

Forrest  Cole 

Mrs.  Thomas  J.  McHales 

Miss  Ida  L.  King 

Miss  M.  R.  Holmes 

Fred  Ostenrider 

William  Eifler 

Miss  Mabel  Cooper 

Miss  Mary  Morgan 

Mrs.  T.  O.  Clinton 

Mrs.  J.  S.  Williamson 

Mrs.  T.  J.  Turley 

Mrs.  Philip  Williams 

Mrs.  F.  M.  Milton 

Rev.  W.   D.   Buckner 

Mrs.  A.  Y.  Scott 

Mrs.  J.  A.  Riechman 

Mrs.  J.  S.  Williams 

Mrs.  Granville  Allison 

Mrs.  J.  J,  Collins 

Mrs.  P.  B.  Anderson 

Mrs.  Philip  Femsioli 

Mrs.  W.  W.  Taylor 

Mrs.  M.  L.  Beecher 

Mrs.  A.  B.  DeLoach 

Mrs.  Herman  Mette 

Mrs.  Isele 

Mrs.  S.  Kelly 

Mrs.  Kate  Hamilton 

Mrs.  M.  Gavin 

Mrs.  Dudley  Schoolfield 

Mrs.  G.  D.  Burgess 

Miss  Olive  Caldwell 

F.  E.  Gary 

Mrs.  Caruthers  Ewing 

Miss  Frances  Cole 

AND    HOTELS 

C.  J.  Haase 
Hugh   Estes 
W.  A.  Taylor 
Mabel  Williams 
Charles  Gerber 


CONFERENCE    HEADQUARTERS 


June  Rudisill,  Chairman 

Boiling    Sibley 

C.  T.  McCabe 

J.   T.   Morgan 

O.  H.  Perry 

S.  M.  Williamson 


George  B.  McLean 
W.  C.  Duttlinger 
W.  P.  Day 

Mrs.  Willie  V.  Byrnes 
Mrs.  M.  S.  Chapsky 
Charles  G.  Dean 


ORGANIZATION   OF  THE   CONGRESS 


203 


J.   N.   Comatzer 
C.  A.  DeSaussure 
-George  H.  Bower 


Miss  STda  Turner 
Miss  Amy  Morton 
J.  V.  Rush 


MEMBERSHIP 


Mrs.  H.   P.  Jordan,  Chairman 

Mrs.   Eugene   Clark 

Miss  Mamie  Abel 

!Miss  Sarah  Alban 

Mrs.  Irby  Bennett 

Rev.  Ben  Cox 


Dr.  M.  Haase 
Miss  Eifie  Heiskell 
Mr.  E.  W.  Porter 
Mrs.  Bolton  Smith 
Mr.  C.  W.  Butler 
Mrs.  Fred  Anderson 


204  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  SOCIAL  PROGRAM 


It  was  the  sense  of  your  Committee  that  for  this  year 
the  Congress  should  reaffirm  the  program  adopted  at  the 
Congress  in  Nashville  in  1912,  as  follows: 

To  us  it  seems  that  this  Congress  must  stand — 

For  the  abolition  of  the  convict  lease  and  contract  sys- 
tems, and  for  the  adoption  of  modern  principles  of  prison 
reform. 

For  the  extension  and  improvement  of  juvenile  courts 
and  juvenile  reformatories. 

For  the  proper  care  and  treatment  of  defectives,  the 
blind,  the  deaf,  the  insane,  the  epileptic,  and  the  feeble- 
minded. 

For  the  recognition  of  the  relation  of  alcoholism  to  dis- 
ease, to  crime,  to  pauperism,  and  to  vice,  and  for  the  adop- 
tion of  appropriate  preventive  measures. 

For  the  adoption  of  uniform  laws  of  the  highest  stand- 
ards concerning  marriage  and  divorce. 

For  the  adoption  of  the  uniform  law  on  vital  statistics. 

For  the  abolition  of  child  labor  by  the  enactment  of 
the  uniform  child  labor  law. 

For  the  enactment  of  school  attendance  laws,  that  the 
reproach  of  the  greatest  degree  of  illiteracy  may  be  re- 
moved from  our  section. 

For  the  suppression  of  prostitution. 

For  the  solving  of  the  race  question  in  a  spirit  of  help- 
fulness to  the  negro  and  of  equal  justice  to  both  races. 

For  the  closest  cooperation  between  the  Church  and  all 
social  agencies  for  the  securing  of  these  results. 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  CONGRESS  205 

RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  CONGRESS 


Resolved,  That  a  Committee  be  appointed  from  this  Con- 
gress to  bring  to  the  attention  of  all  the  Churches,  white 
and  colored,  and  to  the  common  councils  of  all  the  cities  of 
the  South,  the  living  conditions  of  the  people  in  their  midst, 
to  the  end  that  the  necessary  steps  may  be  taken  to  make 
such  conditions  comfortable  and  healthful. 

Resolved,  1.  That  very  cordial  appreciation  be  and  is 
hereby  expressed  for  the  hospitality  and  the  help  extended 
by  this  good  city  of  Memphis  and  its  citizens  in  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  work  of  this  Congress. 

2.  That  we  thank  the  railroad  officials,  the  street  rail- 
way management,  their  officers  and  employees,  and  the 
hotels  for  uniform  and  efficient  courtesy  and  service. 

3.  That  we  especially  recognize  and  value  the  laborious 
and  indispensably  useful  work  of  the  Commercial-Appeal, 
the  Scimitar,  and  the  Press,  and  the  painstaking  considera- 
tion and  cooperation  of  the  local  committee. 

4.  That  we  express  our  especial  gratitude  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  Orpheum  Theatre,  to  the  pastors  and  official 
members  of  the  Central  Baptist  Church,  and  to  the  First 
Methodist  Church. 

These  have  been  the  living  illustrations  of  what  this 
Congress  stands  for — friendship,  brotherhood,  and  cooper^ 
ation. 


206 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


NOTE. — Names  marked  with  a  star  (•)  are  sustaining  members,  those 
marked  with  a  double  star  (•*)  are  life  members,  those  marked  with  a  daggrer 
(f)   are  contributing  active  members,  while  all  others  are  active  members. 


ALABAMA 


Alstork,  Bishop  J.  W. 
fAmigh,  Miss  Ophelia  L. 
Andrews,  Miss  Ludie 
Armes,  Miss  Ethel 
Attwell,  Ernest  T. 
Bidgood,  Prpf.  Lee 
Binford,   H.   Connard 
Birmingham  Public  Library 
Bowen,  Miss  Cornelia 
Bowen,  Rev.  C.  A. 
Bowie,  Mr.  Sydney  J. 
Boyd,  C.  J. 
Bray,  Dr.  J.  A. 
Bridges,  Rev.  W.  S. 
*Bromberg,  Frederick  G. 
Brown,  Charles  A. 
Brown,  Prof.  J.  W. 
♦Buchanan,   Walter   S. 
Carnley,  J.  A. 
Clark,  P.  H. 
Clay,  Miss  Ida  V. 
Crawford,  George  G. 
Crim,  Miss  Dorothy  S. 
Crumpton,  William  C. 
Daily,   S.  M. 
Davidson,  James  L. 
Davie,  Dr.  M.  S. 
Dickens,  Mrs.  Carrie  McGill 
Dickerson,  Charles  H. 
Eaves,   Rev.  George 
Ellis,  J.  B. 
Evans,  Aurelius  A. 
Evans,  F.  W. 
Fonde,  Miss  Elizabeth 
Foucett,  Robert  S. 
Frazer,  Dr.  T.  H. 
Gamble,  Rev.  Gary 
Glennon,  Mrs.  James  K. 
Godbold,  Norman  D. 
Goldstein,  Mrs,  Julius  G. 
Green,  Mrs.  Lemuel  Bailey 
Green,  Lemuel  Bailey 
Grogan,  Dr.  J.  O. 
Grubb,  Judge  W.  I. 
Hallowell,   Miss   Emily 
Harris,  Dr.  Scale 
Haysmer,  A.  J. 


Hearin,  J.  B. 

Hobson,  S.  A. 

HoUoway,  Prof.  William  H. 

Howard,  Rev.  H.  C. 

Hunter,  Miss  Alice 

Jacobs,  Ben  M. 

Jemison,  Robert,  Jr. 

John,  Samuel  W. 

Jones,  Miss  Lulie 

Jordan,  Mrs.  Mary  R. 

Judkins,  Rev.  R.  C. 

tKaul,  Mr.  J.  L. 

Kirkpatrick,   Mrs.   S. 

Latham,  L.  P. 

Laird,  H.  W. 

Lee,  J.  R.  E. 

Lee,  Lawrence  H. 

Library  Ala.  Girls'  Tech.  Institute 

Library  State  Dept.  of  Archives 

and  History 
Library  University  of  Alabama 
MacBrein,  Miss  Julia  F. 
MacLean,  Miss  Helen 
Malone,  Miss  Sarah 
Marshall,  Miss  Maybelle 
Martin,  Dr.  W.  E. 
Mason,  Dr.  U.  G. 
Matlock,  J.  D. 
McDonald,  W.  C. 
*McCormick,  Miss  M.  V. 
McGrath,  William  M. 
McNeill,  Rev.  H.  H. 
Miller,  E.  E. 
Moorman,   C.   H. 
*Munger,  R.  S. 
Murdock,  Mrs.  W.  L. 
Murphy,  Samuel  D. 
Nealy,  Dr.  N.  N. 
Nixon,  Prof.  H.  C. 
Gates,  Dr.  W.  H. 
Owen,  Dr.  Thomas  M. 
Parke,  Dr.  Thomas  D. 
Pettiford,  W.  R. 
Pickering,  William 
Ramsey,  J.  B. 
Reynolds,  M.  C. 
Riley,  Dr.  B.  ^. 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


207 


ALABAMA-Continued 


^lumph,  Miss  Mary 
Scott,  Emmett  J. 
Searcy,  Dr.  J.  T. 
Searight,  Mrs.  M.  W. 
Sibley,  Prof.  James  L. 
Slaton,  Rev.  S.  T. 
Smith,  E.  E. 
Snedecor,  Rev.  J.  G. 
Sparker,  Miss  Annie  Laurie 
Spaglns,  Robert  E. 
Steele,  O.  L. 
Steele,  R.  T. 
Thomas,  Judge  C.  E. 
Thomas,  Judge  E.  Perry 
Thomas,  Judge  William  H. 


Thorn,   Miss   Charlotte   R. 
Tidwell,  R.  E. 
Wadsworth,  J.   B. 
♦Walker,  Miss  Grace  T. 
Walls,  Rev.  P.  W. 
Washington,  Booker  T. 
Weakley,  Mrs.   S.   D. 
Weisel,  Mrs.  Annie  K. 
Whidden,   Miss   Marian 
White,  Miss  Alice  L. 
Williams,  Mr.  Charles  W. 
Wittig,  Prof.  Gustav 
Wolford,  Rev.  Charles 
Work,  Monroe  N. 
Wood,  Charles   W. 


ARKANSAS 


Allis,  Miss  Martha  C. 

Auerbach,  M.  A. 

Booker,  Dr.  Joseph  A. 

Bosworth,   Dr.   Robinson 

Brough,  Dr.  C.  H. 

Carothers,  Prof.  Neil 

Dickson,  Mrs.  A.  G. 

Dickson,  B.  W. 

Favrot,  Leo  M. 

Frauenthal,  Mrs.  Joseph 

Gardner,  Isaac  B. 

Goldsmith,  Rev.  Robt. 

Green,  J.  L. 

Hayes,  Dr.  Charles  E. 

Hemdon,  Dallas  T. 

Hunter,  W.   M. 

Johnson,  F.  S.  H. 

Library  Central  College 

Library  Hebrew  Relief  Society 

Library  Henderson  Brown  College 


Library  Hendrix  College 
Library  University  of  Arkansas 
Lucy,  Rev.  J.  M. 
Lyon,  Miss  Dorothy  W. 
Markwell,  Mrs.  Lula  A. 
Melpolder,  Mr.  John 
Morris,  Dr.  E.  C. 
Pemberton,  Mrs.  W.  H. 
Pinson,  W.  J. 
Purvis,  Walter  M. 
Rhine,  Rabbi  A.  B. 
Roots,  Maj.  P.  K. 
Rutherford,  Mrs.  M.  U. 
Schoenfeld,  Mrs.  Sol. 
Seneker,  Rev.  J.  S. 
Staples,  Prof.  S. 
Wade,  J.  W. 
Whipple,  Durand 
Winbum,  H.  L. 


CALIFORNIA 


Library,  Palo  Alto  Public 
Library  University  of  California 
Nulsen,  W.  A. 
Phillips,  Wiley  J. 
Reading,  Mrs.  A.  B. 
Reeve,  T.  E. 


Acton,  William 
AUensworth,  Allen 
Gray,  R.  S. 
Howell,  Rev.  Robert  P. 
Lambuth,  Mrs.   Daisy 
Lambuth,   Miss  Mary 
Library,  Oakland  Free 

COLORADO 

Trinidad  Carnegie  Public  Library  Williams,  Mrs.  Harriet  E. 

CONNECTICUT 

tBaldwin,  Mrs.  William  H.,  Jr.     Myers,  L.  B. 
Library  Yale  University 


208 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


DELAWARE 
DuPont,  Coleman 


DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA 


Baldwin,  William  H. 
Bigsby,  Hon.  W.  H. 
♦Burroughs,  Miss  Nannie  H. 
C  apron,  Mrs.  A.  K. 
Church,  Miss  Laura  R. 
Claxton,  Philander  P. 
Cook,  George  W. 
Cooper,  Mrs.   Anna  J. 
Crafts,  Dr.  Wilbur 
Dinwiddle,  Edwin  C. 
Hunton,  William  A. 
Jones,  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse 
Lathrop,  Miss  Julia  C. 
Lawson,  Prof.  Jesse 
Library  of  Hirst  College 


McKelway,   Dr.   A.  J. 
Miller,  Kelly 
Moore,  R.  Walton 
Lewis,  B.  Moore 
Moorland,  Dr.  J.  E. 
Neill,  Charles  P. 
Pratt,  Dr.  Butler 
Rudolph,  Hon.  Cuno  H. 
tShorter,  Chas.   H. 
Sparkman,  Hon.  S.   M. 
Ufford,  Walter  S. 
Wilbur,  Cressy  L, 
Wood,  Rev.  Charles 
Woolf,  Rev.  E.  L. 
Wotherspoon,  Miss  Mary  W. 


FLORIDA 


Bernard,  Prof.  L.  L. 
Bethune,  Mrs.  Mary  McLeod 
Blount,  W.   A. 
Brantlley,  J.  Q. 
Brevard,  Miss  C.  M. 
Brown,   Dr.  J.   T. 
Davis,  Miss  Elizabeth  R. 
Douglas,  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Fagg,  Marcus  C, 
Ford,  Rev.  John  E. 
Futch,  Mrs.  John  E. 
Gibbs,  George  C. 
Godbey,  Mrs.  S.  M. 
Green,  Rev.  J.  B. 
Gwynne,  W.  T. 
Gwynne,  Mrs.  W.  T. 
Hawley,  Miss  Mary  A. 


Hobson,  Rev.  W.  A. 

Jennings,  Frank  E. 

Library  John  B.  Stetson  University 

Library,  Jacksonville  Public 

Library  University  of  Florida 

Mabry,  G.  E. 

MacDonald,  C.  H. 

Nelson,  Edwin 

Sherrill,  J.  H. 

Tucker,  Miss  Emma 

Waldo,  Rev.  Edwin  W. 

Waldron,  George  B. 

Wetherell,  Mrs.  O.  D. 

Williams,  Prof.  A. 

Wright,  Mrs.  George  M. 

Young,  N.  B. 


GEORGIA 


Abbott,  Miss  S.  E. 
Alexander,    W.    G. 
Anderson,  Miss  Georgia  M. 
Austin,  Rev.  George  F. 
Averill,  Mrs.  J.   P. 
Barnes,  Miss  Lottie  L. 
•fBecks,  Miss  Ida  M. 
Belk,  Rev.  S.  R. 
Bishop,  E.  E. 
Black,  Mrs.  Nellie  P. 
Blalock,  Mrs.  J.  T. 
Borchers,  Miss  Cora  E. 
Bowens,  Rev.  J.  W.  E. 
Boykin,  Mrs.  S.  F. 
Bradley,  Mrs.  L.  J. 
Branson,  Prof.  E.  C. 


Brill,  Miss  Edith  V. 
Bryant,  Rev.  P.  James 
Bryant,  Mrs.  S.  C.  J. 
Buck,  Mrs.  Alford  R. 
Budd,   Rev.   W.   H. 
Bullock,  Dr.  M.  W. 
Bunce,  Dr.  Allen  H. 
Burghard,  Mrs.  L.  H. 
Butler,  Dr.  H.  R. 
Byrd,  Rev.  William 
Calloway,  Rev.  T.  W. 
Campbell,  Dr.  Moses  G. 
Carter,  Rev.  R.  A. 
tCarter,  Rev.  E.  R. 
Gary,  Miss  Alice  D. 
Chadwick,  Miss  Amy  A. 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


209 


GEORGIA-Continued 


-Ohappell,  Mayor  L.  H. 
Clark,  Rev.  W.  H. 
Clemmer,  Miss  Frances  B. 

Cloud,  Miss  Ellen  B. 

Coggin,  Rev.  J.  N.  C. 
Cone,  R.  E.  L. 

Conkling,  Dr.  J.  Wade 
Connor,  W.  O. 
Coster,  A.  H. 

Cree,  Arch  C. 

Crim,  Miss  Florence 

Cromer,  Dr.  J.  D. 

Curtis,  Prof.  R.  E. 

Dargin,    E.    C. 

Daniel,  Miss  Mary 

Davis,  John  Warren 

Davis,   Dr.   Jeff 

Day,  Rev.  A.  E. 

DeBardeleben,  Miss  Mary 

DeLoach,  Rev.  R.  J.  H. 

Disbro,  W.  B. 

Dodge,  Mrs.  A.  G.  P. 

Downs,  Rev.  J.  S. 

Driskell,  William 

DuPree,  Miss  Martha 

DuPree,  D.  H. 

Dwelle,  Rev.   T.  H. 

Eplan,   Leon 

Evans,   Lawton    B. 

Farrall,  Mrs.  M.  I. 

Fisher,   E.   M. 

Flanders,  W.  J. 

Fleming,  Hon.   William  H. 

Fleming,  Jas.   L. 

Flinn,  Rev.  R.  O. 

Flipper,  Bishop  J.  S. 

Ford,  Mrs.  Mattie  A. 

Fort,  Dr.  A.  G. 

Fountain,   Mrs.  W.  A. 

Fountain,  W,   A. 

Gardner,  Rev.  J.  R. 

tGarrison,  Miss  Bessie 

Glenn,  Rev.  J.  M. 

Glenn,  Mrs.  Thomas  K. 

Gray,  Claude 

Gray,  Dr.  B.  D. 

Greene,  Mrs.  Joel  G. 

Griffith,  Joseph 

Gude,  Miss  Mary  B. 

Hall,  Rev.  J.  J. 

Hamby,  Rev.  W.  T. 

Hames,  Rev.  E.  C. 

Hammond,  Dr.  J.  D. 

Hanscom,  Rev.  George  I. 

Hardman,  Dr.  L.  D. 

Harmon,  Rev.  John 

Harper,  Miss  Mary 

14 


Harrington,  Dr.  A.  F. 
Hasslock,  Miss  Clara  W. 
Hay,   P.   L. 
Hemphill,  R.  A. 
Henderson,  Rev.  E.  L. 
Hendrix,   Rev.   W.   R. 
Henson,  W.  C. 
Herndon,  A.  F. 
Hillyer,   George 
Hinman,  George  B. 
Hodgson,  Dr.  F.  G. 
Hodgson,  Mrs.  P.  G. 
Holderby,  A.  R. 
Hollingsworth,  Mrs.  E.  S. 
Holt,  Miss  E.  G. 
Hope,  Mrs.  John 
Hope,   Prof.  John 
Hopkins,  L.  C. 
Hopkins,  Rev.  W.  H. 
Hoxsey,  J.  M.  B. 
Howard,  Mrs.  M.  R. 
Hughlett,  Dr.  A.  M. 
Hunnicutt,  Rev.  W.  T. 
Hyman,  H.  Joseph 
Ingram,  Mrs.   D. 
Jackson,  Miss  Mary  C. 
Jackson,  Crawford 
Jackson,  Mrs.  James 
Jackson,  Rev^  J.  W. 
Jenkins,  Rev.  J.   S. 
Jenner,  Rev.  J.  T. 
Johnson,  Dr.  E.  P. 
Johnson,  Rev.  Luke  G. 
Johnson,  Dr.  Charles  H. 
Jones,   J.   W. 
Jones,  Mrs.   Sam  P. 
Kamensky,  Miss  Fee 
Kaphan,  Miss  Pauline  M. 
Keener,  E.  E. 
Kennedy,  Mrs.  John  L. 
Killiam,  C.  M. 
Kime,  Dr.  Rufus  R. 
King,   Rev.   W.   P. 
King,  George  E. 
Knight,  Miss  Anna 
Koch,   Miss    Katherine 
Kriegshaber,  V.  H. 
Laing,  Miss  Margaret 
Lambdin,  Miss  Barbara  E. 
Landauer,  Miss  Daisy 
Lathrop,  Rev.  Thomas  B. 
Lemon,  H.  B. 
Lee,  T.  M. 
Lewis,  H.  G. 
Lewis,  Mrs.  T.  S. 
Library,  Atlanta  Carnegie 
Library,  Columbus  Public 


210 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


GEORGIA-Continued 


Library  State  Normal  School 
Library  University  of  Georgia 
Lichtenstin,    M. 
Logfan,  J.  C. 
Love,  Jas.  A. 
tLowe,  Miss  Rosa 
Manning,  C.  M. 
Martin,  Dr.  D.  D. 
McAllister,   Rev.   M.   P. 
tMcEachern,  Mrs.  J.  N. 
McCord,  Charles  H. 
McCord,  Robert  B. 
McHenry,  Miss  Hallie 
McKinney,  Miss  M.  Louise 
McLendon,  Mrs.  Mary  L. 
McWhorter,  Mrs.  Margaret  L. 
Means,  Mrs.  T.  A.  E. 
Merry,  E.  C. 
Mitchell,  Miss  Flora 
Morris,  Mrs.   T.  E. 
Moss,  Miss  Sarah  H. 
Murray,  Miss  Stella 
Newill,  W.  E. 
Newsom,  Miss  Ethel 
Nutt,  Ambrose  B. 
Paxon,  Col.  Frederic  J. 
Oliver,  Dr.  E.  H. 
Ottley,  Mrs.  P.  F. 
Parrish,  C.  S. 
Patterson,  T.  E. 
Pendleton,  Miss  Helen  B. 
Perry,  H.  E. 
Philips,  Geo.  B. 
Philips,  E. 
Phillip,  G.  W.  F. 
Phillips,  J.  J. 
Pise,  Rev.  Charles  T.  A. 
Pope,  Mrs.  Frederick 
Prichard,  Miss  Alice  L. 
Proctor,  Rev.  H.  H. 
Purser,  Rev.  John  F. 
Pyron,  Mrs.  R. 
Quillian,  Dr.  W.  E. 
Ramspeck,  Miss  Lottie 
Raoul,  Mrs.  W.  G. 
Raoul,  Miss  Eleanor 
Read,  J.  V.      ' 
Read,  K. 
Rees,  A.  W. 
Reynolds,  John  H. 
Richards,  J.  B. 
Roberts,  Dr.  J.  B. 
Robins,  Dr.  John  B. 
Robinson,   Mrs.   F.   M. 
Rosenthal,  Rabbi  F.  L. 
Rule,  Miss  Lillian 
Rush,  J.  A. 


Russell,   Mrs.   May  C. 
Schuman,  Miss  Clyde  B. 
Sharp,  Prof.  J.  A. 
Shepard,  C.  L. 
Shipman,  Frank  R. 
Showers,  Miss  Fannie  S. 
Sibley,  Erwin 
Simms,  Mrs.  Clara  S. 
Simmons,  Rev.  P.  G. 
Smith,  Claude  A. 
Smith,  Mrs.  F.  G.  Burton 
Smith,  Rembert  G. 
Smith,  W.  Frank 
Sonn,  R.  A. 
Stames,  Mrs.  Frances 
Steed,  Walter  E. 
Strickland,  Mr.  Jno.  A. 
Stilwell,  Miss  Laura  Moore 
Stubbs,  W.   B. 
Suhrie,  Dr.  A.  L. 
Swanson,  Dr.  Cosby 
Sweet,  Miss  Mary  F. 
Tanner,   Dr.   C.   M. 
Tapley,  Miss  Lucy  H. 
Thompson,  Rev.  M. 
Thompson,  Mrs.  L.  B. 
Tindall,  W.   W. 
Tobias,    Prof.   C.    S. 
Troutman,  Mrs.  M.  L. 
Trent,  W.  J. 
Tucker,  Mrs.  Henry  H. 
Turner,  E.  A. 
Turner,   Mrs.   Laura  L. 
Ware,  Edward  T. 
Ware,  Mrs.  Edward  T, 
Watson,  John  B. 
Watson,  Mrs.  H.  R. 
tWebster,  Edgar  H. 
Weltner,  Philip 
Westbrook,  Dr.  G.  W. 
White,   Dr.  John   E. 
White,  Mrs.  L.  M. 
**White,   W.   Woods 
Witney,  G.  S. 
Williams,  Bishop  R.  S. 
Wilmer,  Rev.  C.  B. 
Wilson,  Mrs.  A.  McD. 
Wing,  Rev.  John  D. 
Wood  all,  Mrs.  Amelia  R. 
Woods,  Miss  Mary  M. 
Woodward,  Miss  Marian 
Woofter,  T.  J.,  Jr. 
Wright,  Miss  Annie  G. 
Wright,  President  R.  R. 
Wynn,  Mrs.  Ida  E. 
"Sacharias,  Miss  Eva  R. 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


211 


IDAHO 
Christian,  Rev.  0.  P. 


ILLINOIS 


Beveer,  Miss  Isabel 
Blanks,  Anna  H. 
Bruner,   A.   M. 
Chicago  Public  Library 
Cross,  W.  T. 
Hall,  Dr.   George  C. 
Illinois  State  Library 
Leavell,  R.  H. 
Mack,  Judge  Julian  W. 


Moore,  Miss  Joanna  P. 
Park,  Robert  E. 
Rosenwald,  Julius 
Ross,  Rev.  J.  Elliot 
Taylor,  Dr.  Graham 
The  John  Crerar  Library 
Todd,  A.  J. 
Tutwiler,  Miss  Julia  S. 
Winget,  Rev.   Benjamin 


Bear,  P.  E. 

Benson,  Rev.  John  G. 

Butler,  Amos  W. 


INDIANA 


Indianapolis  Public  Library 
Indiana  State  Library 


IOWA 
Library  Iowa  State  University 


Carter,  Wm.  R. 
Sims,  John  T. 


KANSAS 


Library  Kansas  Academy  of 
Science 


KENTUCKY 


Allen,  Mrs.  Bessie  L. 

Amiger,  Dr.  W.  T. 

Armistead,  George  W. 

Beauchampe,  Mrs.  Frances  E. 

Bell,  Prof.  J.  W. 

Belknap,  Mrs.  M.  B. 

Bennett,   Miss   Belle  H. 

Breckenridge,   Mrs.   Desha 

Breckman,  Rev.  William  O. 

Brown,   W.   C. 

Burton,  George  L. 

Butler,  Miss  Harriet  L. 

Button,   Prof.   F.  C. 

Carver,  Dr.  W.  O. 

Chandler,  Rev.  O.  J. 

Chapman,  J.  V. 

Chilton,  John  B. 

City  Mission  Society,  Mt.  Sterling 

Conrad,  Miss  Corinne  B. 

DeHaven,  Mrs.  WiclifFe 

Dickey,  Mrs.  J.  J. 

Durning,  Miss  Marie  E. 

Eager,  Dr.  G.  B. 

Evans,  Mrs.  H.  A. 

Fisher,  Rev.  C.  C. 

Flexner,  Bernard 


Foote,  Rev.  U.  G. 

French,  Roy  L. 

Frost,   President  William   G. 

Furman,  Miss  Lucy 

tGardner,  Dr.  C.  S. 

Gemert,  Fred 

Graves,  Dr.  George  O. 

Henderson,  Carl 

Hill,  John  L. 

Hudson,  Rev.  Wm.  E. 

Huntington,  Miss  Ruth 

Ingram,  Miss  Frances 

Jackson,  Miss  Chloe 

Jones,  J.  W. 

Joplin,  Rev.   George  A. 

Kremm,  Miss  Josephine  M. 

Lehmann,  Mrs.  C.  A. 

Lexington   Public  Library 

Library  Georgetown  College 

Library   So.   Baptist  Theo.   Sem. 

Little,  Rev.  John 

Loeb,  Miss  Florence  M. 

Louisville  Free  Library 

McFerran,  J.  B. 

McLure,  Mrs.  Maud  R. 

Moore,  Paul  M. 


212 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


KENTUCKY -Continued 


Newman,  J.  W. 
Parrish,   Dr.   C.  H. 
Pettit,  Miss  Katherine 
Piggott,   Mrs.  W.  J. 
Potter,  J.  Whit 
Powell,  Dr.  Lewis 
Proctor,  B.  F. 
Roark,  Mrs.  Mary  C. 
Sehan,  George  L. 
Shaver,  Miss  Elizabeth 
Spencer,  Prof.  J.  M. 
Stewart.  Dr.  John  P. 
Stone,  Miss  May 


Strull,  Charles 
Stucky,  Dr.  J.  A. 
Taylor,  John  X. 
Trawick,  Dr.  John  D. 
Troxler,  John  A. 
Weaver,  Mrs.  Charles  P. 
Webster,  Miss  Josephine 
Weidler,  Albert  G. 
Wells,  A.  J.  G. 
Whaley,  Miss  Nell 
Witherspoon,  Miss  Pauline  F. 
Woemer,  5liss  Emma  J. 


LOUISIANA 


Brownell,   C.   R. 

Burbridge.  Dr.  Leonidas  T. 

Bynum,  W.  A. 

Caldwell,  B.  C. 

Cottingham,  Prof.  C. 

Dixon,  B.  B. 

Dowling,  Dr.  Oscar 

Gillean,  Miss  Susan  K. 

Gilbeau,  Mrs.  B.  H. 

Girard,  Crow 

Gordon,  Miss  Jean  M. 

Gunby,  A.  A. 

Hill,  Prof.  David  S. 

Hart,  W.   O. 

Hill,  Rev.  Felix  R.,  Jr. 

Huckaby,  G.  C. 

Hunt,  Mrs.  Randell 

t.Tones,  Robert  E. 

Kennedy,  John  L. 

Library  Howard  Memorial 

Louisiana  State  Library 

Low,  Clarence  F. 


Martindale,  Rev.  C.  O'N. 
Mayo,  Augustus  M. 
tMcGuire,  Prof.  O.  R. 
McKinney,  Mrs.  A.  C. 
McVoy,  Mrs.  L.  C. 
Millsaps.  Mrs.  A.  R. 
Morris,  Miss  Agnes 
Moss,  Dr.  N.  P. 
Nelson,  N.  O. 
Newell,  Miss  Roberta 
New  Orleans  Public  Library 
Railey,  Miss  Mary  L. 
Salmen,  Fred  W. 
Scroggs,  William  O. 
Shuttleworth,  Mrs.  Frances 
St.  Amant,  A.  D. 
Sutton,  John  L. 
Thirkield,  Bishop  W.  P. 
Upton,  D.   P. 
Ware,  Rev.  E.  O. 
Williams,  Mrs.  S.  F. 
Wilson,  Mrs.  G.  W. 


MARYLAND 


Apple,  President  Joseph  H. 
Athey,  Mrs.  C.  N. 
Biggs,  Robert 
Casey,  Miss  Nellie  M. 
Cochran,  William  F. 
Davenport,  William  H. 
Dorsey,  Charles  W. 
Garrett,  Robert 
Oilman,  Miss  Elizabeth 
Grasty,   Nathaniel   G. 
Glenn,  William  L. 
Harrington,  Francis  Edward 
Haslup,  Mrs.  Mary  R. 
Hurst,  Dr.  John 
Irving,  Mrs.  Elizabetli  P. 
Jones,  Dr.  S.  Bayne 
Kearney,  Miss  Gertrude 


*Kirk,  H.   C. 
Knipp,  Miss  Gertrude  B. 
Library  Johns  Hopkins  Univ. 
Magruder,  J,  W. 
Pleasants,  Dr.  J.  H. 
Pyles,  John  P. 
♦Riggs,  Gen.  Lawrason 
tSchwarzenbach,   George 
fSocial  Service  Corporation,  Balti- 
more 
Stevens,  Eugene  E. 
Tkom,  DeCourcy  W. 
Thomas,  Isaac  L. 

Washington   County  Free   Library 
Wharton,  Mrs.  H.  M. 
White,  J.  LeRoy 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


213 


MASSACHUSETTS 


Atkinson,  Henry  A. 

Baker,  Harvey  H. 

Boston   Congregational   Library 

Bradley,  Rev.  Henry  Stiles 

Brayton,  Mrs.  Hezekiah  A. 

Craig,  Prof.  E.  E. 

Crane,  Mrs.  W.  Murray 


Dole,  C.  F. 

Foster,  Warren  Dunham 

Library  Howard  College 

Library  Mass.  Agricultural  College 

Library  Simmons  College 

Park,  Robert  E. 


MISSISSIPPI 


Battle,  Wallace  A. 
Bland,  Miss  Maggie 
Bratton,  Bishop  Theodore  D. 
Castle,  Dr.  Sarah 
Cochran,  Mrs.  C.  W, 
Coken,  D.  W. 
Carter,  Rev.  J.  R. 
Corley,  S.  A. 
Daniels,  Miss  Mary  E. 
Dobyns,  J.  R. 
Docking,  Rev.  James  T, 
Elkin,  Miss  Lee 
Enochs,  I.  C. 
Enochs,  P.  H. 
Fox,  James  Herman 
Green,  Rev.  John  L. 
Green,  Mrs.  John  L. 
Guthings,  J.  C. 
Hardy,  Miss  Ida  V. 
Henderson,  Mrs.  T.  R. 
Herrington,  Dr.  John  C. 
Herrington,  Mrs.  Arista  T. 
Holmes,  William  T. 
Holtzclaw,  William  H. 
Howerton,  G.  T. 
Hubert,  President  Z.  T. 
Hutton,  J.  B. 
Jones,  Rev.  C.  P. 
Lawrence,  J.  Benjamin 
tLeathers,  Dr.  W.  S. 
Lehman,  J.  B. 
Ledyard,  J.  H. 


Library  Agricultural  College 
Lipscomb,  Mr.  Dabney 
Long,  W.  Fred 
Lowry,  V.  B. 
Lucus,  W.  W. 
Matthews,  J.  E. 
McCallum,  Dr.  A.  M. 
Meridian   Public  Library 
Meridian  Woman's  College 
*Millsaps,  Maj.  R.  W. 
Millsaps  Carnegie  Library 
Montgomery,  Miss  Belle  Woods 
Montgomery,  Isaiah  T. 
Neill,  Mrs.  J.  L. 
Neill,  Rev.  J.  L. 
Porter,  Dr.  William 
Ragsdale,  Miss  Ruth 
Rowan,  Dr.  Walter  H. 
Rundle,  John 
Shannon,  Prof.  A.  H. 
Smeade,  Dr.  G.  Gordan 
Somerville,  Mrs.  Nellie  N. 
Steele,  Miss  Mary  I. 
tStemheim,  Rev.  Emanuel 
Stone,  Alfred  H. 
Stovall,  A.  T. 
Thames,  J.  T. 
Threefoot,  Louis 
Watkins,  Dr.  F.  L. 
Webb,  John  L. 
Willis,  J.  W. 


MICHIGAN 
Curtis,  Henry  S. 


MINNESOTA 


Library  Univ.  of  Minn. 
Minneapolis  Public  Library 


Allen,  Benjamin  Franklin 
Baldwin,  Roger  N. 
Beardsley,  H.  M. 
Becks,  Miss  Ida  M. 
Bliss,  M.  A. 


Solensten,  R.  T. 


MISSOURI 


Botkin,  Mrs.  Mary  M. 
Central   Christian  Advocate,   Kan- 
sas City 
Curry,  Mrs.  Edwin  R. 
Dearmont,  W.  S. 


214 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


MISSOURI-Continued 


Ellwood,  Dr.  Charles  A, 
Gordon,   W.   C. 
Gravelle,  J.  Silas 
Halbert,  L.  A. 
Hamilton,  Miss  Wathena 
Holland,   Mrs.    Virginia 
Howell,  Miss  Mabel 
Joplin  Free  Pu^ic  Library 
Kansas  City  Public  Library 
Knox,  George  Piatt 
Kulhman,  Rev.  John  W. 
Library  University  of  Mo. 
Library  St.  Louis  Mercantile  As- 
sociation 
Library  Missouri  Commission 
Lindsay,  Miss  Robert  M. 
Lynch,  J,  Hal 


Mangold,  George  B. 
Marquis,  Miss  Eva  M 
McCord,  James  Hamilton 
Robinson,  C.  K. 
St.  Louis  Public  Library 
St.  Joseph  Public  Library 
Spencer,  Dr.  C.  B. 
Spencer,  C.  C. 
Springer,  Mrs.  C.  R. 
Steiner,  Sydney  S. 
Squires,  R.  E. 
Sutherland,  E.  H. 
Vivion,  Mrs.  Orion 
Watt,  W.  A. 
Waterworth,  James  A. 
Wilson,  W.  N. 


MONTANA 
Library  University  of  Montana 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE 
Priest,  Miss  Electa  M. 


Johnson,  Dr.  Alexander 
Laddy,  Miss  Paula 


NEW  JERSEY 

Hoboken  Public  Library 

NEW  MEXICO 
Gillespie,  Dr.  W.  C. 


NEW  YORK 


Abbott,  Lawrence  F, 

Armstrong,  Miss  Margaret  M. 

*  Baker,  Orin  C. 

Bishop,  Rev.  Samuel  H. 

Brooklyn  Public  Library 

Buffalo  Public  Library 

Brooks,  Dr.  William  H. 

Chamberlain,  Miss  Mary  L. 

Crouch,  Rev.  F.  M. 

Dinwiddle,  Miss  Emily  Way  land 

Frankel,  Lee  K. 

Glenn,  John  M. 

Haven,  William  I. 

Hicks,  Harry  Wade 

Ihlder,  John 

Johnson,  M.  W. 

Layten,  Mrs.  S.  W. 

Library  Colgate  University 

Library  Columbia  University 


Lyman,  Dr.  H.  C. 

Macfarland,  Rev.  Charles  S. 

National  Child  Labor  Committee 

New  York  Public  Library 

Peabody,  George  Foster 

Ryder,  Dr.  C.  J. 

Rochester  Theo.  Seminary  Library 

Slingerland,  Dr.  W.  H. 

Stelzle,  Rev.  Charles 

Strong,  Dr.  Josiah 

Syracuse  Public  Library 

Thruston,  Miss  Mary  W. 

Vaughn,  H.  P. 

Washington,  William  D.  H. 

Whitin,  E.  Stagg 

Williams,  Morney 

Wilson,  Rev.  W.  H. 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  New  York  City 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


215 


NORTH  CAROLINA 


Ackinson,  Rev.  George  H. 

Allen,  Ivey 

tArendell,  Col.  F.  B. 

Atkinson,  R.  E. 

Averitt,  Dr.  K.  G. 

Baldwin,  Rev.  J.  A. 

Ballard,  B.  W. 

Barber,  Rev.  Milton  A. 

Berry,  H.  M. 

Blades,  J.  B. 

Blades,  Dr.  L.  S. 

Boyer,  Rev.  H.  K. 

Brown,  R.  L. 

Brown,  Rev.  Wyatt 

Caldwell,  John  L. 

Campbell,  John  C. 

Carr,  Julian  S. 

Carter,  E.  M. 

Carter,  Mrs.  H.  W. 

Chapman,  Rev.  C.  D. 

Charlotte  Carnegie  Library 

Chase,  Dr.  H.  W. 

Childs,  Ed  P. 

Clinton,  Bishop  George  W. 

Collins,  Mrs.  C.P. 

Compton,  Lucius  B. 

Cook,  J.  P. 

Coon,  Charles  L. 

Costner,  J.   M. 

Cox,  Miss  Clara 

Cox,  J.  S. 

Davis,  Rev.  R.  L. 

Denson,  Miss  Daisy 

Dudley,  James  B. 

Elliott,  Miss  Charlotte  B. 

Farriss,  J.  J. 

Fearington,   Mrs.  J.  P. 

Fields,  Miss  Alice 

Finley,  Rev.  W.  E. 

Fritz,  R.  L. 

Goodrich,  Miss  Frances  L. 

Harding,  F.  C. 

Harrell,  Rev.  C.  J. 

Harris,  A.  L. 

Haynes,  L.  Q. 

Heck,  Miss  Fannie  E.  S. 

Hobbs,  C.  H. 

Holman,  Miss  Lydia 

Houston,  Mrs.  H.  C. 

Hughes,  Rev.  N.  C. 

Hunter,   Rev.   A.   B. 

Joyner,  J.  Y. 

Kesler,  M,  L. 


Lasley,  W.  A. 

Laughinghouse,  Charles  O'H. 

Lay,  Rev.  George  W. 

Library  N.  C.  State  N.  and  I.  Col-  Wyche,  Mrs.  M.  L 

lege  Yoder,  Fred  R. 

Library  University  of  N.  Carolina 


Love,  Rev.  F.  S. 
Ludlow,  Col.  J.  L. 
Majette,  Mark 
tMarch,  Miss  Elizabeth 
McAlister,  A.  W. 
McCrorey,  Dr.  H.  L. 
McRae,  W.  V. 
Meserve,  Charles  F. 
tMinor,  Dr.  Charles  L. 
Morgan,  Rev.  S.  L. 
Morgan,  A.  D. 
Morgan,  Rev.  Rufua 
Nesbitt,  Charles  T. 
Newbold,  N.  C. 
North  Carolina  State  Library 
Library  Shaw  University 
Parker,  John  A. 
Parker,  Charles  J. 
Peck,  Thomas  D. 
Perkins,  Mrs.  F.  W. 
Phelps,  Miss  Caroline  B. 
Poe,  Clarence 
Poteat,  William  Louia 
Rankin,  Dr.  W.  S. 
Ray,  John  E. 
Redwine,  R.  B. 
Register,  Dr.  Frank  M. 
Rhodes,  J.  M. 
Rodman,  Mrs.  J.  L. 
tRogers,  B.  Winton 
Rogers,  Miss  Mary  M. 
Schlichter,  Norman  C. 
Sentelle,  R.  E. 
Simpson,  John  A, 
Simpson,  Walter  A. 
Small,  John  H. 
Smith,  Miss  Mae  Lucile 
Smith,  Bernard  P. 
Stephenson,  Rev.  R.  S. 
Stephenson,  Miss  Florence 
Stevens,  Dr.  M.  L. 
Strange,  Bishop  Robert 
Swift,  W.  H. 
Toepleman,  F.  C. 
Trowbridge,  C.  H. 
Vann,  Dr.  R.  T. 
Wagoner,  E.  L. 
Walker,  W.   T. 
Watts,  George  W. 
Watt,  W.  W. 
Willard,  M.   S. 
Williamson,  William  H. 
Wisner,  Rev.  O.  F. 
Wood,  Charles  A. 
Woodward,  V.  S. 
Wright,  Robert  H. 


216 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


OHIO 


Baldauf,  Miss  M.  L. 
Cincinnati  Public  Library 
Cleveland  Public  Library 
tEmest,  Richard 
Library  Lane  Seminary 


Blair,  Miss  Estelle 
Brown,  Mrs.  G.  A. 
Connell,  J.  H. 
Davis,  Dr.  Frank  P. 
Dearing,  W.  S. 
Ehler,  Mrs.  Annette  B. 
Eskridge,  J.   B, 
Griner,  Rev.  George  W. 
Hester,  Mrs.  G.  B. 
Hinshaw,  Elihu  B. 


Metcalf,  Irving  W. 
Library  Ohio  State 
Penn,  Dr.  I.  G. 
tWilliams,  Mrs.  D.  L. 


OKLAHOMA 


Library  Okla.  A.  and  M.  College 
Miller,  Dr.  A.  C. 
Mayes,  S.  H. 
Moody,  Calvin  B. 
Pearl,  Miss  N.  M. 
Scroggs,  J.  W. 
Spaulding,  Mrs.  H.  B. 
Templeton,  Mrs.  John  L. 
Wilson,  R.  H. 


OREGON 


Hizer,   Clay 

Library  Portland  Association 


Library  Oregon  State 


PENNSYLVANIA 


Batten,  S.  Z. 
Flood,  Dr.  Theodore  L. 
Jordan,  Dr.  L.  G. 
Patterson,  W.  B. 


Scharflf,  Mr.  Marrice 
Stewart,  Miss  Eloise 
Thompson,  Rev,  A.  C. 


RHODE  ISLAND 
Library  Brown  University 


SOUTH  CAROLINA 


Allen,  Mrs.  J.  W. 
Andrews,  W.  T. 
Bethea,  Mr.  Andrew  J. 
Camak,  Rev.  D.  E. 
Carlisle,  Howard  B. 
Carlisle,  Rev.  M.  L. 
Carroll,  Richard 
Chamberlayne,  Dr.  Lewis  P. 
Cleaves,  Rev.  N.  C. 
tCooley,  Miss  Rossa  B. 
Cromer,  George  B. 
Dabbs,  Mrs.  E.  W. 
Douglas,  D.  M. 
Duncan,  Dr.  Watson  B. 
DuRant,   Charlton 
Durham,  D.  C. 
Fant,  Mrs.  Rufus 
Finlay,  Rev.  K.  G. 
Fisher,  Mrs.  T.  H. 
Flora,  A.  C. 
Gibbs,  Mayor  W.  H. 
Goodwin,  Rev.  G.  A. 


Graham,  Allen  J. 
Harns,  J.  H. 

House,  Miss  Grace  Biglow 
Hydrick,  Miss  Ellie  L. 
Jamison,  A.  T. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  Ralph 
Keyserling,  William 
King,  Dr.  A.  T. 
King,  R.  H. 
Levy,  Dr.  James  R. 
Library  Clemson  College 
Library  Furman  College 
Library  Newberry  College 
Library  University  South  Carolina 
Library  Winthrop  N.   and  I.   Col- 
lege 
Library  Wofford  College 
Ligon,  Mrs.  A.  C. 
Lumpkin,  Dr.  H.  H. 
Marshall,  C.  R. 
McClintock,  Miss  E.  E. 
McCullough,  Judge  J.  A. 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


217 


SOUTH  CAROLINA-Continued 


McDow,  Hon.  Thomas  F, 
Melton,  W.  M. 
Montgomery,  Rev.  J.  H. 
Montgomery,  Miss  Mabel 
Morse,  Dr.  Josiah 
Otts,  James  C. 
Patton,  Dr.  W.  B. 
Poteat,  President  Ed  M. 
Preston,  Miss  Caroline  H. 
Quick,  Geo.  W. 
Ray,  Miss  Bessie 
tSands,  Mrs.  A-  E. 


Adamson,  John  C. 
Anderson,  Dr.  W.  B. 
Armstrong,  J.  V. 
Arnstein,  Mrs.  Max  B. 
Atkins,  Dr.  Jessie  B. 
Bachelder,  Mrs.  Mary  E. 
Bachman,  Dr    J.  W. 
Bachman,  Dr.  Geo.  0. 
Bang,  Mrs.  M.  P. 
Barnwell,  Mrs.  B.  W. 
Barton,  Col.  O.  C. 
Baxter,  Lewis  T. 
Bayer,  Prof.  J.  H. 
Becker,  Fred  G. 
Bell,  Rev.  B.  R. 
Bell,  Claude  J. 
*  Benedict,  Rev.  C.  K. 
Bennie,  George  E. 
tBenson,  John  T. 
IBemhardt,  L.  J. 
Berry,  Miss  Sarah 
Bickley,  Mrs.  Joseph  T. 
•fBinswanger,  Milton  S. 
Bishop,  Rev.  E.  A. 
Booker,  Dr.  George  W. 
Boswell,  Rev.  Ira  M. 
Bourne,  William  R. 
Bowers,  Duke  C. 
Boyd,  W.  B. 
Brading,  J.   E. 
Braithwaite,  Oswald  B. 
Brandon,  C.  H. 
Brister,  J.  W. 
Broughton,  V.  W. 
Browne,  H.  L. 
*Brown,  J.  W. 
Brush,  Dr.  C.  E. 
Buckner,  Dr.  M.  G. 
tBuffett,  Mrs.  Helen  C. 
Burchett,  A.  S.  J. 
Burt,  Dr.  Robert  T. 
Bushnell,  Miss  L.  E. 
Caine,  Miss  Mamie 


Smith,  Mrs.  S.  M. 

Stevens,  John 

Summers,  A.  W. 

Sylvan,  Gustaf 

Tate,  W.  K. 

Valentine,  President  B.  W. 

Watkins,  Asa  D. 

Watson,  Prof.  P.  B. 

Weltner,  C.  E. 

Wilbur,  Walter  B. 

Wilkinson,  R.  S. 


TENNESSEE 


Calhoun,   Prof.   A.   W. 
Campbell,  Lemuel  R. 
Cannon,  Dr.  James 
Carr,  S.  F. 
Carre,  Henry  B. 
Carson,  Sam 
Carter,  F.  A. 
Carter,  Prof.  Thomas 
Carter,  Bishop  T.  C. 
Chambers,  Mrs.  W.  A. 
Chappell,  Dr.  E.  B. 
Chauncey,  Richard 
Chavannes,  A.  L. 
Chavis,  Rev.  J.  D. 
Choate,  A.  E.  W. 
Christopher,  C.  C. 
Claiborne,  Rev.  W.  S. 
Clarke,  Battle 
Clarke,  James  E. 
Clement,  Rev.  A.  E. 
Cockrill,  M.  S. 
**Cole,  Mrs.  Anna  Russell 
Cole,  Whitefoord  R. 
Coleman,  P.  J. 
Collier,  W.  C. 
Conroy,  John  J. 
Cooper,  Miss  Montgomery 
Cornelius,  B.  F. 
Cox,  Rev.  Benjamin 
Crockett,  Mrs.  S.  S. 
Crumbly,  Father  Peter  A. 
♦Crump,  F.  M. 
Curry,  A.  B. 
Cullom,  Dr.   M.   M. 
Cuninggim,  Prof.  J.  L. 
Bake,    Dr.    R.   W. 
Dale,  W.  A. 
Daniel,  Mrs.  Will 
Davenport,  Sam  G. 
Davie,  J.  F. 
Davis,  Miss  Harriett 
Daniel,  H.  C. 
Dean,  Charles  G. 


218 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


TENNESSEE-Continued 


DeLoney,  J.  L, 
Demby,  Dr.  E.  Thomas 
Demby,  Mrs,  Dan 
Detwiler,  Dr.  G.  H. 
DeWitt,  John  H. 
Diehl,  Rev.  C.  E. 
Dobbs,  Rev.  D.  A, 
Dorris,   Finley   M. 
Douglas,  R,  C. 
Douglas,  Dr.  A.  E. 
Dozier,  Mrs.  N.  B. 
Dreyfus,  Albert 
Durham,  H.  W. 
Dutton,  Miss  Emily  H. 
Eakin,  Joseph  W. 
Eastman,  Charles  H. 
Eastman,  Mrs.  Charles  H. 
Eaton,  Mrs.  K.  T. 
Eleazer,  Robert  B. 
Ellett,  E.  C. 

Elliott,  Mrs.  Margaret  G. 
Ellman,  George 
Fall,  Mrs.  Joseph 
Ferger,  J.  F. 
Fisher,  F.  L. 
Fitzgerald,  Miss  Mary 
Fitzgerald,  W.  H. 
Fletcher,  Robert  S.,  Jr. 
Frank,  Manuel 
Franklin,  Rev.  W.  H. 
Frazier,  Cecil  R. 
Freeman,  Rev.  W.  A. 
Frick,  John 
Fuller,  Rev.  T.  O. 
Gailor,  Bishop  Thomas  F. 
Gaisford,  Cecil 
Gill,  Miss  L.  D. 
Glocker,  Theodore  W. 
Goddey,  Miss  Cornelia 
Golden,  H. 
Goodman,  J.  A. 
Graves,  Miss  Clara 
Green,  Dr.  H.  M. 
Green,  Clifton  H. 
Greer,  Rowan  A. 
Griggs,  Dr.  Sutton  E. 
Hale,  Dr.  W.  J. 
Haley,  Curtis  B. 
Hall,  Dr.  William  B. 
Hall,  R.  W. 
Hall,  Marion  A. 
Hamilton,  W.  R. 
Hard,  W.  M. 
Harlan,  Miss  Sarah 
Harris,  Dr.  Cummings 
Harris,  Dr.  J.  E. 
Haskins,  Miss  Estelle 


Hawkins,  G.  A. 

Hayes,  Thomas  H. 

Haynes,  George  E. 

Head,  Miss  Mabel 

Heiskell,  Lamar 

Heiskell,  Miss  Effie 

Henderson,  Miss  Lena  B. 

Henderson,  Mrs.  Ben  R. 

Henderson,  Mrs.  Laureter 

Henry,  Col.  Robert  S. 

Hermon,  Mrs.   Ben 

Hibbs,  Prof.  H.  H.,  Jr. 

Highsaw,  James  Leonard 

Hill,  Miss  Martha 

Hinds,  J.  I.  D. 

Holdemess,  M.  E. 

Hollomon,  Mrs.  W.  L. 

Holman,  Mrs.  S.  M. 

Hooks,  Julia  A. 

Hooper,  Hon.  Ben  W. 

Hubbard,  Dr.  G.  W. 

Hunter,  J.  W.,  Jr. 

Hudson,  R.  F. 

Jackson,  C.  J. 

Jackson,  Miss  Flossie  E. 

Jarnagin,  Mrs.  G.  H. 

tJarrell,  Miss  Cora 

Johnson,  Mrs.  John  J. 

Johnson,  Mrs.  J.  W. 

Johnson,  Lehman 

Johnson,  Mrs.  W.  C. 

Johnson,  Dr.  John  Q. 

Jones,  Prof.  R.  L. 

Jones,  Mrs.  K.  P. 

Jones,  Mrs.  L.  H. 

Jonte,  N.  S. 

tJoyner,  Q.  H. 

Joyner,  Edjvard 

Kayhoe,  Rev.  J.  F.  F. 

Keathly,  J.  B. 

Kelly,  Charles  P. 

Kercheval,  Miss  Margaret  McE. 

Kern,  Dr.  John  A. 

Kern,  Rev.  Paul  B. 

KierofF,  S.  E. 

Kilvington,  W.  .0. 

King,  Hines  E. 

King,  Thomas  B. 

Kirkland,  Dr.  J.  H. 

Knight,  Rev.  Ryland 

Kranz,  James  P. 

Krittrelle,  Dr.  Andrew  N. 

Kumler,  John  A. 

Lambuth.  Bishop  W.  R. 

Landrith,  Dr.  Ira 

Langley,  E.  D. 

Langley,  Mrs.  E.  D. 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


219 


TENNESSEE-Continued 


Leake,  M.  F. 

Lea,  Senator  Luke 

Lee,  Miss  Rosa 

Levine,  A.  T. 

Levy  &  Co.,  Sam 

Lewinthal,  Rabbi  Isidore 

Library  American  Interchurch  Col 

lege 
Library,  Nashville  Carnegie 
Library  Memphis  Cossett 
Library  Fisk  University 
Library  Goodwin  Institute 
Library  State  Normal  School 
Library   Maryville   College 
Library  Tennessee  State 
Library  Tusculum  College 
Library  University  of  Tennessee 
Library  Wesley  Hall    (Dept.  of 

Vanderbilt) 
Lindsay,  Rev.  J.  A. 
Litterer,  Dr.  William 
Logan,  Dr.  Mercer  P. 
Lott,  Mrs.  Clara 
Loveman,  Mrs.  Adolph 
Loventhal,  Lee  J. 
Lyle,  Rev.  Hubert  S. 
Lynk,  M.  V. 
Lyon,  Dr.  A.  A. 
MacDonell,  Mrs.  R.  W. 
Maddin,   P.   D. 
Maloney,  Frank 
Manning,  J.  W.,  Sr. 
Marmon,  Jeff  B. 
Marshall,  Mrs.  Harriett 
Marshall,  A.  L. 
Maury,  Dr.  Richard  B. 
McCallie,  Mrs.  T.  H. 
McCord,  Rev.  Hugh  S. 
McCulloch,  J.  E. 
McEwen,  Dr.  A.  W. 
McGranahan,  Dr.  R.  W. 
McKinney,   J.   W. 
McKinney,  Mrs.  J.  W. 
McMichael,  Rev.  W.  J. 
Menzler,   C.   C. 
Miller,  Rev.  J.  H. 
Miller,  Lee  F. 
Mills,  Mrs.  R.  M. 
Mitchell,  George 
Mitchell,  Charles 
MoUoy,  Rev.  J.  A. 
Moore,  Dr.  John  M. 
Morgan,  W.  H. 
Morgan,  Dr.  Henry  W. 
Morris,  Rev.  J.  C. 
Mynders,  Mrs.  S.  A. 
Nashville  Industrial  Bureau 


Neal,  Mrs.  E.  M. 
Nelson,  Mrs.  C.  B. 
Nelson,  Miss  Virg:inia 
Niles,  S.  G. 
O'Bryan  Bros. 
tOgden,  Mrs.  Adele  C. 
Ogden,  E.  W. 
Parker,  Dr.  F.   S. 
Parlett,  Albert 
Patrick,  J.  W. 
Patten,  John  A. 
Patterson,  Dr.  L.  G. 
Payne,  Dr.  Bruce  R. 
Peace,  T.  W. 
Penick,  Rev.  I.  N. 
Peterson,  V. 
Pettey,  Rev.  W.  L. 
Pettey,  Dr.  G.  O. 
Pitt,  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Pitts,  Judge  John  A. 
Pollock,  A.  M. 
Porter,  E.  W. 
Price,  George  H. 
Provine,  Rev.  W.  A. 
Pryor,  James  J. 
Queen,  Stewart  A. 
Quillian,  Rev.  William  F, 
Ranck,  T.  E. 
Ransom,  Rev.  John  J. 
Raoul,  Gastoij  C. 
Regen,  Rev.  B.  G. 
Reynolds,  Maj.  A.  D. 
Rich,  Dr.  Stanley  L, 
Richmond,  Dr.  W.  D. 
Riechman,  J.  A. 
Ricks,  Rev.  W.  B. 
Rogan,  A.  B. 
Rolston,  E.  H. 
Roman,  Dr.  C.  V. 
Rose,  C.  E. 
Ross,  Miss  Lida  W. 
Ross,  Mrs.  F.  H.  E. 
Rule,  Miss  Cora 
Salter,  F.  M. 
Samfield,  Dr.  Max 
Sanders,  W.  N. 
Savage,  Dr.  G.  C. 
Schamberger,  W.  G. 
Scott,  J.  W. 
Searcy,  Rev.  T.  J. 
Sears,  W.  H. 
Shannon,  E.  S. 
Sharp,  Rev.  T.  E. 
Sharp,  Robert 
Shepherd,  H,  C. 
Shoulders,  Dr.  H.  H. 
Sibley,  Boiling 


220 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


TENNESSEE- Continued 


Sibley,  Rev.  Josiah' 

Simms,  Mrs.  Charles  S. 

Sly,  Miss  Elva  L. 

Smith,  Bolton 

Smith,  E.  A. 

Smith,  Mrs.  R.  M.  K. 

Smith,  J.  H 

Smith,  W.  T. 

Smith,  Prof.  R.  E. 

Stahlman,   Maj.   E.  B. 

Standefer,  R.  M. 

Stapleton,  Rev.  Robert  L. 

Steele,  Mrs.  A.  S. 

Stickney,  James  M. 

Strauss,  Alex 

Strock,  A.  A. 

Sutherland,  E.  A. 

Tamble,  Mrs.  P.  M. 

Tarpley,  A.  B. 

Tate,  H.  D. 

Taylor,  John  Q. 

Temple,  Miss  Mary  Boyce 

tThompson,  Miss  Mary  Allen 

Thompson,  Mayor  T.  C. 

Tillett,  Dr.  W.  F. 

Tillman,  G.  N. 

Tirrell,  W,  O. 

Todd,  John  A. 

Tomlinson,  A.  M. 

Totten,  Dr.  J.  J. 

Townsend,  Joseph 

Trabue,  Charles  C. 

Trawick,  A.   M. 


Trawick,  Mrs.  Arch 

Vance,  Mrs.  R.  H. 

Van  Deventer,  Horace 

Verran,  W.  L. 

Warner,  Miss  Lena  A. 

Washburn,  Frank  S. 

*Waterfield,  Rev.  C.  A. 

Ward,  C.  A. 

Watson,  Allan 

Weber,  John   Langden 

Weakley,  Mrs.  Robert 

Weatherford,  Dr.  W.  D. 

Wedding,  R,  B. 

West,  Mrs.  Benjamin 

West,  Dr.  Olin 

White,  Dr.  Gordon 

White,  Miss  Sue  S. 

Whiteside,  Mrs,  Charles 

Wiemann,  Miss  A.  E. 

Wigginton,    Rev.    T.   A. 

Williams,  B.  A. 

Williams,  W.  I. 

Wilson,  President  S.  T. 

Wilson,  R.  T. 

Winton,  Dr.  G.  B. 

Windiate,   Archdeacon   Thomas   D. 

Wiseman,  Miss  Cora  Ida 

Witt,  Dr.  W.  H. 

Witherspoon,  Dr.  J.  A. 

Wofford,  George  T. 

Wood,    Gordon 

Yerley,  Mrs.  Cecelia 

tYoung,  Rev.  David  K. 


TEXAS 


Abbott,  Mrs.  O.  M. 
Anderson,  Mrs.  E.  J. 
Andrews,  Mrs.  F. 
*Baker,  Mrs.  James  A. 
Barnes,  Mrs.  E.  B. 
Barstow,  George  E, 
Barton,  Dr.  A.  J. 
Benn,  Rev.  G.  W. 
Blocher,   Miss  Eleanor 
Boaz,  Dr.  H.  A. 
Bralley,  F.  M. 
Brown,  M.  D. 
Buchanan,  Mrs.  C.  R. 
*Cage,  Rufus 
Campbell,  Miss  Sybit  L. 
Cantrell,  Dr.  C.  E. 
Garden,  George  A. 
Curtis,  Mrs.  Nannie  W. 
Dallas  Public  Library 
Dogan,  Dr.  M.  W. 
Eddins,  Prof.  A.  W. 


Ellis,  A.  C. 

Everman,  J.  W. 

Ezell,  Mrs.  C.  L. 

Finty,  Tom,  Jr. 

Ford,  A.  C. 

Ft.  Worth  Public  Library 

tFt.  Worth  Relief  Association 

Fry,  E.  J. 

Gibson,  Rev.  George  M. 

Glenn,  W.  M. 

Cranberry,  Rev.  John  C. 

Griggs,  A.  R. 

Griggs,  E.  M. 

Goddard,  O.  E. 

Gross,  J.  L. 

Hall,  R.  W. 

Hampton,  C.  N. 

Hardy,  Prof.  J.  C. 

Harrison,  Mrs.  J.  H. 

Henshaw,  J.  M. 

Higgins,  Mrs.  C.  C. 


MEMBERSHIP  LIST 


221 


TEXAS -Continued 


tHoprg,  Will  C. 
Horner,  Rev.  W.  W. 
Howard,  Mrs.  N.  C. 
Howell,  Mrs.  R.  L. 
Jackson,  Rev.  Alex 
Jackson,  Miss  Ethel 
Jenkins,  Charles  H. 
Kirkpatrick,  E.  W. 
Library  Baylor  University 
Library  Houston  Lyceum  and  Car- 
negie 
Library  Southwestern  University 
Library  University  of  Texas 
Lockhart.  Rev.  W.  S. 
Lombard!,  C. 
Love,  Mrs.  J.  C. 
Lovett,  Ed  0. 
Lovinggood,  R.  S. 
Lyon,  Mrs.  D.  B. 
Monk,  Rev.  Alonzo,  Jr. 
Morris,  Rev.  I.  Z.  T. 
Neely,  Mrs.  M.  H. 
Nelson,  Mrs.  W.  W.,  Jr. 
Parsons,  Mrs.  J.  L. 
Patten,   F.  C. 
*  Potts,  Prof.  C.  S. 
Proctor,  F.  C. 
Ray,  Miss  Nora  B. 
Rice,  Dr.  John  A. 


Richardson,  Rupert  N. 

Robinson,  Mrs.  Laura  E. 

Rotan,  Mrs.   Edw. 

Rucker,  Rev.  Samuel  J. 

Sandefer,  J.  D. 

Schreiner,  Charles 

Sensabaugh,  Rev.  O.  F. 

*  Sharp,  Mrs.  W.  B. 

Shepherd,  James  W. 

Smith,  Dr.  Carrie  Weaver 

Smith,  Ernest  Bailey 

Smith,  Dr.  J.  Frank 

Smith,    R.    L. 

Sneed,  Rev.  Glen  L. 

Spivey,   Mrs.  John  W. 

Terrell  Carnegie  Public  Library 

Texas  State  Library 

Texas  Anti-Tuberculosis  Ass'n 

Towle,  Mrs.  G.  H. 

Waco  Public  Library 

Webb,  A.  G. 

Whitmore,  Mrs.  J,  T. 

Wilson,  W.  T. 

Wilson,  William  A. 

Winston,   Miss   Helen 

Winston,  Mrs.  T.  L. 

Woods,  Mrs.  J.  W. 

Woods,  John  W. 


VIRGINIA 


Ackley,  S.  A. 

Acree,  Mrs.  L.  D. 

Aery,  William  Anthony 

Asmew,  Ella  G. 

Allen,   A. 

Associated  Charities  of  Richmond 

Axtell,  Decatur 

tBall,  Mi§s  Ella  V. 

Baldwin,  Mrs.  W.  E^ 

Barbour,    Robert    S. 

Barrett,  Mrs.  Harris 

Barrett^  Kate  Waller 

Beckham,  Rev.  B.  M. 

Boocock,   Murry 

Bonney,  Miss  L.  E. 

Bosher,  Dr.  Robert*  S. 

Brenner,  W.  D. 

Britt,  Mrs.  Lee 

Carter,  J.  J. 

tChristian,  Judge  Frank  P. 

Cocke,  Miss  Matty  L. 

Crump,  James  D. 

Davis,  Arthur  K. 

Davis,  Jackson 

Davis,  Miss  N.  C. 

Dillard,  Dr.  James  H. 


Drewry,  W.  F. 
Driver,  Dr.  W.  E. 
Fallis,  Miss  Emma  J. 
Flannagan,  Dr.  Ray  K. 
Frissell,   Dr.   IT.   B. 
Grandy,  Dr.   Charles  R. 
Harris,  Miss  Mattie  P. 
Hatcher,  Rev.  S.  C. 
Hunley,  Prof.  W.  M. 
Hylton,  Miss  Hattie  E. 
I'Anson,  Rev.  Vernon 
Jamison,  Mrs.  S.  W. 
John,  James  E. 
Johnston,  Miss  Mary 
Kratzig,  Henry  {I. 
Lankford,  Livins 
Laughtons,  Rev.  J.   R. 
Lear,  Prof.  J.  M. 
Leigh,  Dr.   Southgate 
Library  State  Board  of  Education 
Library  University  of  Virginia 
Library  Union  Theo.  Seminary 
Library  Union  University 
Library   Va.    Polytechnic   Institute 
Virginia  State  Library 
Library  Washington  and  Lee  Uni- 
versity 


222 


BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 


VIRGINIA— Ck)ntinued 


Long,  A.  R. 

MacDonald,  Miss  Rose  M. 
Mastin,  Dr.  J.  T. 
Maphis,  Prof.  Charles  G. 
Maybre,  Rev.  Wm.  J. 
McDonald,  H.  B. 
McKee,  S.  K. 
Means,  Mrs.  E.  C. 
Moton,  Robert  R. 
Munford,  Mrs.  B,  B. 
tMyers,   Barton 
Parker,  J.  C. 
Parrish,  Mrs.  J.  Scott 
Pettyjohn,  John  P. 
Phillips,  Dr.  A.  L. 
tPhillpotts,  M.  Gertrude 
Ramsey,  M.  Hiden 
Rider,  Miss  Rosabel 
Rogers,  J.  E. 
Roper,  W.  B. 

WASHINGTON 
Library  University  of  Washington    Seattle  Public  Library 


Roper,  John  L. 
Royster,  Dr.  L.  T. 
Russell,  James  S. 
Rutherford,  Miss  Jane  M. 
Schenck,  Dr.  Powhatan  S. 
Schmelz,  Mrs.  Henry  Lane 
Sharp,  Arthur  B. 
Shippen,  Mrs.  E.  G. 
Simpson,  Rev.  T.  M. 
Southgate,  T.  S. 
Steames,  Supt.  R.  C. 
Steed,  Robert  E. 
Stokes,  Rev.  W.  H. 
Thompson,  Rev.  W.  C. 
Tucker,  H.  St.  George 
Whittaker,  W.  H. 
Williams,  W.  T.  B. 
tWilliams,  Dr.  E.  G. 
Winston,  Dr.  Peter 


WEST  VIRGINIA 


Associated  Charities,  Wheeling 

Altstaetter,  Mrs.  Rebecca  R. 

Anderson,  P.  H. 

Corbly,  L.  J. 

Cummins,  Miss  Elizabeth  I. 

Godbey,  Dr.  M.  V. 

Hall,  Mrs.  E.  Benton 

Jackson,  Rev.  Frank 

Marsh,  J.  F. 

McCulloch,  G.  M. 


McKinney,  Miss  Nola 
Montgomery,  Samuel  B. 
Morris,  H. 
Ogdin,  William  H. 
Spurr,  Rev.  B.  M. 
Stayman,  Joseph  W. 
Tavenner,  L.  N. 
Wilkerson,  O.  M. 
Yost,  Mrs.  Ellis  A. 


WISCONSIN 

Library  Wisconsin  Historical  So-    Milwaukee  Public  Librarj 
ciety 

FOREIGN 

AFRICA 

Evans,  Maurice  L 

BRAZIL 

Kennedy,  Rev.  James  L. 


Clark,  W.  L. 

Latter,  Rev.  Aaher  P. 


CANADA 

Moore,  Rev.  T. 

CUBA 

Bardwell,  Rer.  H.  B. 


INDEX  OF  SPEAKERS,  AUTHORS,   OFFICERS 


A  PAGE 

Alexander,  Mrs.  C.  H 197 

Apple,  Dr.  J.   H 197 

Auerbach,    M.    A 195,  196 

B 

Bacon,  Judge  W.  J 196 

Bain,  Miss  Cora  M 197 

Baldwin,  Roger  N 195,  196 

Baldwin,   William   H 196 

Barnard,  Miss  Kate 195,  196 

Barton,   Rev.   A.  J 197 

Baxter,   Lewis    T 196,  198 

Bernard,  Prof.  L.   L 195 

Bethea,   Andrew   J 64 

Billikopf,    Jacob 195 

Boyer,  Rev.  H.  K 197 

Branson,  Prof.  E.  C 197 

Bratton,  Bishop  Theodore  D 145,  197 

Brough,   Prof.   C.    H 195,  197 

Bruner,   A.    M 61 

Buchanan,    James 197 

Burdick,  Dr.  William 196 

C 

Caldwell,  Prof.  B.  C 195,  198 

Carruthers,  Prof.  Neil 197 

Clark,   Dr.  J.  E 197 

Cole,  Mrs.  Anna  Russell 195 

Cole,   W.    R 195,  198 

Cox,    Dr.    Ben 197 

Cree,  Dr.  Arch  C 195,  197 

Crockett,  Mrs.  S.   S 196 

Crumbly,  Father  Peter  A 69,  197 

Cummins,    Miss    Elizabeth 195 

Cunniffe,   M.   G 196 

D 

Dawson,   George  F 197 

Deloach,  Dr.  J,  R 197 

Denson,   Miss   Daisy 195 

DeWitt,  Hon.  John  H 196,  198 

Dillard,  Dr.  J.  H 195,  197,  198 

Dinwiddle,   E.   C 196 

Dowd,   Prof.   Jerome 195 

Dowling,  Dr.  Oscar 196 

F 

Fagg,  Marcus  C 195,  196 

Favrot,   L.   M 197 

Fitzhugh,    Alex 196 

Fleming,  Hon.  William  H 197 

Frissell,   Dr.   H.   B 197 

Futrell,   Dr.  J.   C 197 


224  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

6 

Gardner,  Rev.  Charies  S 91,  195,  197 

Gibbes,  Mayor  W.  H 196 

Gillman,  Miss  Elizabeth 195 

Godbey,  Dr.  M.  N 196 

Gordon,  Miss  Jean  M 195,  196,  197 

Grear,  Judge  Theo.  D.  B 196 

Green,  Dr.  J.   L 196,  197 

Gwynne,  Capt.  W.  F 197 

H 

Halbert,    L.    A 196 

Hammond,   Dr.  John  D 138,  197 

Harris,   Dr.    Seale 196 

Haynes,  Prof.  George  E 120 

Heck,  Miss  Fannie  E.  S 195 

Herrington,  Dr.  John  C 196 

Highsaw,    John 196 

Hill,  Prof.  David  S 197 

Holdemess,   M.   E 195 

Hooper,  Gov.  Ben  W 195 

House,  Miss  Grace  Bigelow 197 

Howell,  Miss  Mabel  K 197 

Howerton,  Dr.  James  R 29 

Hubbard,  Dr.  George  W 197 

I 
Ingram,   Miss  Frances 195 

J 

Jackson,  Rev.   Frank 197 

Jamison,  Dr.  A.  T 196 

Jarrell,  Rev.  C.  C 195 

Jewell,  Dr.  J.  R 196 

Jones,  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse 197 

Kelley,  Mrs.  Florence 132 

Kern,   Dr.   A.   A 195 

Kirby,  Rev.  William  J 197 

Kranz,  James  P 195,  198 

L 

Lambuth,  Bishop  W.  R 197 

Laney,  Miss  Lucy 197 

Lathrop,  Miss  Julia  C 196 

Leathers,  Dr.  W.   S 195 

Levin,  Lewis  H 196 

Lewinthal,  Dr.   1 197 

Little,   Mrs.   John 197 

Little,  Rev.  John 197 

Logan,   Joseph   C 196,  198 

Logan,  Dr.  Mercer  P 197 

Love,   Mrs.  J.   C 196 

Lowe,  Miss  Rosa  C 196 

Ludlow,  Col.  J.  L 196 

M 

McAlpine,  Miss  Irene 197 

McClintock,  Miss  E 195 

McCuUoch,   J.    E 195 

McCullough,  Judge  J.  A. 196 


INDEX  OF  SPEAKERS,  AUTHORS,  OFFICERS  225 

McGarth,   William   M 196 

McKelway,  Dr.  A.  J 196,  198 

McKinney,    Miss    Nola 196 

Macf arland,   Rev.   Charles   S 98 

Magruder,  J.   W 195 

Mangold,    George    B 82 

Mann,   Gov.   William  H 11,  195 

Maston,  Rev.  J.   T 196 

Melpolder,    John 196 

Menzler,    C.    C 198 

Morse,    Prof.    C.    S 197 

Moton,   Major   Robert   R 159,  197 

Mumford,   Mrs.   Beverly 196 

Murdock,  Mrs.  W.  L 195,  196 

Myers,    Barton 197 

N 
Newton,   R.  J 195,  196 

0 
Ogden,   E.   W 197 

P 

Parmelee,  Prof.   Maurice 196 

Patterson,    Charles    H 197 

Pendleton,  Miss  Helen  B 196 

Pettyjohn,   John    P 197 

Phillips,  Rev.  H.   D 197 

Poe,  Mr.   Clarence 195 

Poteat,  President  E.  M 197 

Poteat,  Dr.  W.  L 197 

Potts,   Prof.   C.   S 195,  196,  198 

Powell,  Dr.  E.  L 197 

Price,  Miss  Louise  F 196 

R 

Rankin,  Dr.  W.   S 196,  198 

Raoul,    Gaston    C 197 

Reichardt,  Miss  Eva 197 

Rice,  Dr.  John  A 25,  197,  198 

Roan,   Dr.   E.   A 196 

Roper,   J.    L 197 

Rose,  Dr.  WicklifFe 195 

Roman,  Dr.  C.  V 169 

S 

Schenck,  Dr.   Powhatan   S 196 

Sehon,    George    L 196 

Sibley,  J.   L 197 

Slingerland,  W.  H 73 

Smeede,   Rev.    G.   G 196 

Smith,   Dr.   Morgan 196 

Snedecor,  Rev.  J.  G 197 

Spiess,    Charles    F 196 

Stemheim,   Rabbi    Emanuel 55,  197 

Stewart,    Miss    Eloise 197 

Stone,   S.   H 197 

Strange,  Bishop  Robert 197 

Sutton,  Prof.   W.   S 197 

Swift,  W.  S 196 


226  BATTLING  FOR  SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 

T 

Thirkield,  Bishop  W.   P 197 

Thomas,  Judge  W.  H 195,  196 

Trawick,  Rev.  A.   M Ill,  197 

Trawick,   Mrs.   Arch 197 

U 
Ufford,   Walter   S 195 

V 
Vickers,  Prof.  E.  H 195 

W 

Washington,   Booker   T 154 

Waterfield,   Rev.   C.    A 44,  197 

Weatherford,    Dr.   W.    D 178,  197 

White,   Rev.  John   E 195 

Wells,   A.   J.   C 196 

Wellston,   Dr.   Irwin 196 

Weltner,    Phillip 196 

Whipple,    Durand 196 

White,  Dr.  J.   E 197 

Wilbur,  Dr.   Cressy  L 196 

Williams,   Prof.   Arthur 196 

Williams,  Dr.  E.  G 195,  196 

Wilmer,  Bishop  C.  B 197 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


A  PAGE 

Amendment  to  the  Constitution 194 

C 

Challenge  of  the  Congress,  The 10 

Church  Work,  Race  Cooperation  in 145 

Constitution  and  By-Laws  of  the  Congress 191 

Coordination  of  Social  and  Religious  Forces,  The 73 

D 

Death    Rate 174 

F 

Federation  of  Women's  Clubs 16 

G 

Girls'   Canning  Clubs 17 

Good  Morals  Better  Than  Policemen 175 

H 

Health,  Inter-Racial  Interest  of 169 

Home  Life  among  Negroes,  Lack  of  Proper Ill 

Homes  for  Poor  Children 15 

I 

Influence  of  the  City  upon  Negro  Life 21 

Inter- Racial  Interest  in  Health 169 

Inter-Racial  Interests  in  Industry 159 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  227 

L 

Lack  of  Proper  Home  Life  among  Negroes Ill 

M 

Migration   to  the  Cities 122 

N 

Negro  Children  as  Future  Workers 132 

Negro   Exposition   at  Richmond 18 

Negroes  in  Cities,  Some  Conditions  among 120 

New  Profession  of  Social  Service,  The 82 

0 

Outcome   of   Segregation 128 

P 

Preparation  of  Ministers  for  Social  Service,  The 91 

Preparation  of  the  Church  for  Social  Service,  The 98 

Present  Social  Order  in  Conflict  with  the  Ideals  of  the  Church,  The.  29 

President's    Message,    The 11 

Probation   Law 15 

R 

Race  Cooperation  in  Church  Work 145 

Religion  the  Common  Basis  of  Cooperation 178 

Religious  Basis  of  Social   Service,  The 69 

Religious  Conditions  which  Hinder  Negro  Progress 138 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  Social   Program 204 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Church  and  Social  Service 25 

Resolutions  Adopted  by  the  Congress 205 

S 

Sanitation    173 

Segregation  within  the  City 125 

Social  Message  of  the  Church  to  Modern  Industry,  The 41 

Social  Mission  of  the  Church  to  City  Life,  The 55 

Social  Program,  The 9 

Social  Welfare,  The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  as  a  Factor 

for    154 

Some  Conditions  among  Negroes  in  Cities 120 

Southern  Sociological  Congress  as  a  Factor  for  Social  Welfare. .  154 

Sunday  School  as  an  Agency  for  Social  Service,  The 64 

T 

Trained    Motherhood 26 

Treatment  of  Convicts  in  the  Virginia  Penitentiary 19 

W 

Workingman  and  the  Church,  The 61 


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